Ever After
by Flaaffy
Summary: Rewritten. Please redirect your attention to Unforgettable.
1. Chapter 1

_Up, up, up  
__Can only go up from here  
__Up, up, up  
__Go up, where the clouds gonna clear  
__Up, up, up  
__There's no way but up from here  
_-Shania Twain, _Up!_

Small hands on skinny hips. Dropped shoulder, cocked hip, slightly confused pout on face. Such was the position of Joanna Jones, the ten-year old resident of New Bark Town . Jojo, as the majority of people she knew called her, pushed her stringy blonde hair out of her way, and looked worriedly at her mother, who was currently sitting in Jojo's desk chair. Moments before, the young girl had been chatting excitedly away about her upcoming Pokémon journey that was scheduled to start tomorrow, but had stopped suddenly when she received her mother's answer to the question, "Aren't you excited for me?"

A few weeks ago, Jojo's father had lost his job working for the Pokémon PC Company, who was, rather unfortunately, downsizing due to the lack of need for human workers any longer. Both Pokémon and machines were doing the job quite nicely, and they were much less expensive than people. Since then, both of Jojo's parents had taken menial, low-paying jobs to help support the family while her older sister, Jillian, was working as a Kimono Girl in Ecruteak and sending home the bulk of her pay. As her parents were away for most of the work day, and Jillian was living with the rest of the Kimono Girls, Jojo was responsible for taking care of her two little brothers, Jacob and John. That had added a lot to her excitement; the ten-year-old was not the most responsible and was hardly able to wait to lose the babysitting job. So when her mother had replied with a resounding, "No," Jojo was more than worried. Biting her lip anxiously, she asked, "What do you mean, 'no'?"

Jackie Jones gave an exasperated sigh, as though this was not something she wanted to think about, much less explain to a ten-year-old. "I mean," she started, sighing again, "that I'm not excited for you to be leaving tomorrow. Not until your father has a stable job. Your brothers can't take care of themselves. Your father and I have discussed it, and we're not letting you go. Not yet, at least." When she saw the beginnings of a protest on her daughter's face, she quickly began trying to calm her. "Now, your father has some interviews set up for tomo-"

"I don't care!" Jojo screeched angrily as Jackie sighed yet again. She had known it would go like this… "You can't _do_ that! You can't…I'm not going to listen to you! Why _not_?!" The blonde was screaming with all of her tweenage might, while her mother sat there, doing nothing but sighing.

"Joanna, you aren't going because we can't stay home with your brothers and we can't afford a babysitter! You. Are. Not. _Going_."

"But-" she said, beginning to beg. "No- Mommy, no! Just- just listen. When I'm gone –no, listen! When I'm gone, I can send back half of the money I make battling people which will probably be more than your job now and then you can stay home with Jacob and John and then I can go and I'm not _staying here_!" she said in one quick breath with tears pouring down her face as she screamed the last two words. "Mommy, you _can't_," Jojo pleaded.

"And what if you can't win at all? What if you just end up as a washed-up old trainer who never won a day in her life?" Jackie said coldly. Although she really didn't believe it would happen, she was attempting to scare her daughter out of it.

Jojo looked at her mother with wide, horror-stricken brown eyes. It appeared to be working. "Mommy, I- _that wouldn't happen_!" she cried, her desperation switching to anger at that statement. "Remember when you sent me to that summer camp for a week and I had to rent out a Pokémon and it was a Carvanha that hated me but in the end I still won that final battle against that girl that rented an Oddish? I still hate Water-types because of that, but I managed to win! Re-_mem_-ber?" The tears had stopped, but her tidal wave of emotions hadn't.

Jackie, although utterly defeated because the statement had been a lie in the first place, was still the parent. Of course, being a parent meant the ability to be unfair in times like that, so she stood up and asserted her parental authority. "You're still not going," she stated with a fierce undertone, heated by the argument.

Jojo, her emotions still in control, glared up at her mother. "Yes I am! I don't care what you say! I'm still go-" She was cut off by a sharp slap to the face.

"No, you're not!" her mother screamed, her temper finally drawn out. "Keep this up, and you will _never_ get a Pokémon!" With that, she turned on her heel and stormed off, slamming the door behind her. Jojo flung herself onto the bed, and the tears began streaming again. After ten minutes of emotional moans ands screams of mental agony, she managed to cry herself into a fitful sleep.

The problem with crying yourself to sleep is twofold – firstly, you sleep terribly and wake up early and secondly, when you wake up, you remember almost immediately that you were crying and all of your anger and sadness come back. So when Jojo woke up in the middle of the night with a downpour of emotions, she wasn't surprised. She was, however, angry and in need of a good outlet. As she didn't feel the least bit tired, she sat up in the dark and thought over the fight with her mother. Jojo knew that if she went back to sleep and pretended everything was fine that she might never get to leave on her journey. Recalling her previous words – _"Yes I am! I don't care what you say!"_- she realized that she had sworn herself to going on the journey, and Jojo was so full of pride she couldn't bear the thought of backing down from her word.

Standing up, the tweenager turned on the light by her bed and looked around the room. Sitting on top of her desk was the brand-new, rather expensive, outfit her mother had bought for her just a few days before her father had been laid off, which was composed of a navy blue and white striped dress, silver biker shorts, tan fur-lined boots, and a navy blue headband with a large bow on the side. There was also a canvas bag filled with empty Poké Balls and an assortment of other trainer necessities, including her new Poké Gear and Pokédex, both of which has been customized in a pinkish-purple color.

Filled with excitement, Jojo changed quickly into the outfit and slung the bag over her shoulder. When she finished, however, dozens of dilemmas began filling her mind. Such as getting out of the house, or getting her first Pokémon, or getting food and water. So the young girl sat on her bed and began thinking. The safest way to not get caught sneaking out would be through her window, where there was a tree she could climb down. The safest way for her health, however, would be out the front door. As for food and water, she could sneak downstairs and grab a few water bottles and some food – her parents were heavy sleepers, after all. But she knew they wouldn't sleep through the front door opening, so that wasn't an option - but jumping out through the kitchen window was. She then thought about getting her Pokémon. She couldn't simply wait outside for Professor Elm to come by and give her one – that would pose too many problems, such as the high chance of her parents catching her first.

Deciding to cross that bridge when she came to it, she pushed it out of her mind and made her way silently across the hallway and down the stairs. She went into the pantry and, quietly as possible, grabbed a few fruits, snacks, and water bottles. As she made her way over to the kitchen window, she stopped as she saw something move from the corner of her eye. There, sitting on the living room sofa, was Jacob and the family Meowth.

"Jojo?" the five-year-old questioned innocently. "Where are you going?"

Jojo sighed, and sat down next to her brother. "Why are you awake, Jake?"

"I couldn't sleep. I heard you and mom bein' angry. I don't like it when you're angry." Jojo sighed once again and hugged her brother, tears sliding silently from her eyes.

"I'm going on my journey, Jake. I'm going to miss you so much. You know that, right?" she said, and began having doubts about leaving. Maybe she wasn't ready for this, even if she had gotten permission from her parents. She was only ten…that was so _young_.

"I'm gonna miss you, too," Jake said, hugging her back and crying along with her.

"Jakey," she sniffled, "you can't tell Mom and Dad about this, okay? It's gonna be our secret, alright?" The young boy nodded. "Pinky promise?" she asked, holding out her littlest finger.

He nodded again, taking the finger with his. "Pinky promise."

"I love you, Jakey," she said, suppressing her sobs. "You too, Whiskers," she added to the Meowth, who rubbed against her side affectionately.

"Love you too, Jojo," her brother replied.

Jojo stood up and walked towards the window, half-smiling, half-crying. "Bye," she whispered, and jumped through.

Once on the other side of her house, she walked quickly across the small town over to Professor Elm's Lab – a path that she had memorized over the years. When she got there, however, the problem she had pushed to the back of her mind came forward once again – getting a Pokémon. Waiting was still not an option, but she couldn't think of another way around it. With a little moan, Jojo had no choice to sit down and think.

It wasn't too late, she considered, and the much weaker part of her was contemplating just turning around and sneaking back into the window. Her parents wouldn't be awake, and she could simply slink back into bed and wait out her father's unemployment like a good daughter – and sister – would do. She imagined being back in her warm bed with Whiskers curled up next to her, sad but at peace with the knowledge she was doing the right thing.

Jojo rolled her eyes. Because that was _exactly_ what she would do…right. She had _almost_ convinced herself, she _almost_ turned right back around, but…_Whiskers._ Meowth were known for being thieves. Often times, as a kitten, Whiskers would steal any number of things and play with them, typically destroying them in the process. She was usually chastised, but nothing more, as she was still a kitten. _Technically,_ Jojo thought, _I'd still be a kitten in Meowth years._ With a sneaky grin and a pounding heart, she knew what she would do.

Walking around to the back of the Lab, she saw the window that was always left open due to Professor Elm's love of outdoors and incessant need to keep a constant air flow in his lab. It was just low enough for her to reach by jumping, and, with much difficulty, she managed to pull herself up and through, into the lab.

It was dark, but Jojo's young eyes let her navigate fairly well. There were rows upon rows of Poké Balls that were all hers for the taking, alphabetized and sorted by type. Thinking silently about what Pokémon she wanted, she decided to honor Whiskers for giving her the perfect idea; Skitty, a close relative of Meowth, would be a good choice for a starter – cute and practical. Making her way over to the row marked "S", she bent close to the labels under the Poké Balls, which were hard to read in the low lighting. As she was walking down the aisle, her bag accidentally bumped into one of the Poké Balls, knocking off of the shelf. The lights came on – as did the alarm. The siren and flashing red lights filled the entire lab. Quickly, she grabbed the nearest Poké Ball and ran as fast as her legs would carry her, clambered onto a desk near the window, and toppled out.


	2. Chapter 2

She ran.

There was nothing else she could do. As the alarm was blaring behind Jojo, she pushed her short, skinny legs faster and faster. Adrenaline pumped through her body and, although she tripped multiple times, she got up and pushed herself farther, faster, harder. She could not, _would_ not, get caught, not after what she had done. Forget being a Meowth kitten or whatever had been going through her mind at the time; she was an idiot. In the distance, she saw the beginnings of Cherrygrove City, and for a moment she was relieved, but then she remembered she was a criminal, a thief, and not wanted by normal society. She turned right and continued running without stopping.

After about half an hour of straight running – she thanked those years of dance training for her aerobic endurance – Jojo's muscles ached and her heart was pounding overtime. Desperate for a place to rest, she looked around but didn't stop running, although her speed had decreased greatly. Eventually, she reached a large rock with an opening in it, and somewhere in her subconscious she realized that she must be near Violet City, and that this would be Dark Cave. She allowed herself a small smile – this would be a good place to rest. She stumbled into the cave, tired and worn from the running. Taking a look around, however, she realized that the cavern lived up to its name; she couldn't see a thing inside. Unwilling to find another place that she felt secure, she felt around in the darkness until she found a suitable spot, and collapsed, sleeping peacefully.

* * *

"Oof!"

"Oww!"

The ten-year-old was woken up by a heavy body falling on top of her. She squirmed anxiously, desperate to get the other person off of her. "What are you doing?" she screeched angrily.

"Sorry, little lady," the man said in a deep, gruff voice, pushing himself off. "I guess you were so close to the ground, Crobat here didn't pick you up with his Supersonic." Jojo looked up at the man, and it the darkness, she could just make out the silhouette of a large, tall hiker and a Crobat flapping silently next to him. "What are you doing sleeping here, anyway?"

Still groggy from just waking up, Jojo was a little slow. After a few seconds, she realized that he had asked her a question, and was expecting an answer. "Oh!" she said, a little stupidly. "Umm, I'm scared of bugs?" she lied, knowing that telling him that she had just stolen a Pokémon would not be the smartest idea. Technically, it wasn't a lie – she hated Bug-types – but it wasn't the real reason why she was there. The Hiker looked satisfied with the answer, however, and offered her a hand up. "What time is it?" she asked after standing.

"Don't you have a Poké Gear on you?" he asked suspiciously.

"Yeah…" the girl said, flustered. "It's just…in my bag." Her Poké Gear wasn't registered yet, so it wouldn't tell her the time.

Still looking doubtfully at her, he opened his own Poké Gear and read, "It's 10:42,"

"At night?"

"You sure you're alright, little lady? 10:42 in the morning," he said, unsure if the girl had hit her head or not.

"Oh, okay," she said, still half-asleep. "Thanks. Which way to the exit?"

"Which exit? Are you going to Blackthorn or Violet?"

"Violet," she answered simply. He pointed in a direction, and then gave her another odd look. "Do you want me to walk with you there?"

"Umm, no, thanks. I was going to catch a few Pokémon around here first," she said, wanting to get out of his sight so she could see what Pokémon she had stolen – she still didn't know yet, after all.

"That's not a good idea, little lady. You should have someone with you in case you get lost," he countered. Couldn't this guy leave her alone?

"Really, I've got a great sense of direction." Lie. "I'm just gonna catch a Geodude or something." Lie. "Then me and Cyndaquil are going to take on Falkner!" …Half-Lie.

"I think I'm going to keep an eye on you, little lady," he said, and, suddenly, Jojo didn't like the tone of his voice.

"No," she said firmly, placing her hands on her hips. Who cared about being rude? This guy was freaking her out. "I'm going to walk away and catch a Geodude. You will not follow me, okay?"

The Hiker stepped forward, and Jojo backed a step away. "You're really not giving me orders, are you, little lady?" And once again, she found herself running away in the opposite direction of the exit. After a solid five minutes of sprinting, she stopped and didn't hear anyone coming behind her.

Oh my gosh! She screamed at herself. Never talk to strangers, stupid! He could have raped you!

The ten-year-old paused for a moment as she contemplated that word: raped. She really had no inkling of the meaning of it; all she knew was that it had something to do with creepy guys and not wanting something.

Shaking the thought out of her mind, Jojo reached into her bag and closed her hand around the recently stolen Poké Ball. With a trembling hand, the girl pressed the button in the center and watched as the red light began to materialize.

* * *

Jackie Jones yawned as the bright light creeping through the blinds hit her eyes. She snuggled back under the covers, trying to keep the pleasant dream she had been having, but eventually frowned as she remembered the fight she had with her youngest daughter last night, and decided chocolate chip pancakes, her favorite breakfast food, would be a good way to apologize to her; she did feel bad about delaying her journey, after all.

A quick walk downstairs later, Jackie stood in the living room, looking at the worn sofa that her youngest son and Meowth were sleeping together on. "Jakey," she whispered, softly shaking him awake. As his eyes began to blink sleepily open, she continued, "Would you like to make pancakes with me?"

The young boy nodded, his brown curls flying in all direction as he grinned and followed his mother into the kitchen. "I'll get the flour!" he offered cheerily, and started for the pantry. As he searched the back for the container, he recalled the conversation he had with Jojo last night and wondered if his mother knew yet; or had she come back in the middle of the night?

He placed the flour on the table. "Be right back!" he hollered, bolting upstairs towards Jojo's room.

"Where are you going?" Jackie called after him.

"Just a second!" he shouted back, opening the door to his older sister's room and saw the empty, unmade bed and missing equipment. He grinned, looking around the suddenly unfriendly seeming space. "Mom!" he called.

"What?" she yelled back. What on earth he was doing?

"Can I have Jojo's room?"

"What!"

* * *

"…Slow…?" the pink blob said…or asked; Jojo really couldn't tell.

"You're kidding me," she began slowly. "You're kidding me." Of all the Pokémon in that lab! It couldn't have been a Skitty, no; it had to be a Slowpoke!

The pink blob looked at her…could he even see? Was he smart enough to do even that much? "…Slow," he stated firmly, as though he had determined something by staring at her. It was a creepy stare; creepier than the Hiker's, at least. He didn't even have real eyes. They were large white balls with little tiny black dots, which she assumed were the pupils.

"I mean," she said to herself, "you could have picked up any other ball. But it just had to be a Slowpoke…a water type! Not just a water type, either. A Squirtle would have worked, or a Staryu, even! But you just had to pick the one that doesn't even have any reflexes!" Just to prove a point to herself, she gave the Slowpoke a little jab in the side with her toe. After four seconds (she counted), the Slowpoke unleashed a jet of water in the complete opposite direction, though, admittedly, it was fairly strong. "Sooo…any chance I can still go back and get myself a Skitty?" she asked rhetorically.

With a moan, she threw herself onto the cold, rocky ground and heaved a great, big sigh. "You need a name, I guess," Jojo said, sitting up and remaining cross-legged on the floor. "I wonder if you can even understand me." She waved a hand in front of his eyes, and a few seconds later he turned to face her. "Yeah, I doubt it. You've got nothing going on up here, huh?" She knocked a little condescendingly on his head. "Nope, nothing. Zip, nada, zero…hey, zero!" A little perkier than before, Jojo stood up and grinned down at…her starter (she really hated saying that, like she actually owned a Slowpoke). "You're going to be named Zero! Ooh, I love it! C'mon, Zero, we've got some training to do!" With renewed confidence, the blonde reached into her bag for Zero's Poké Ball when she realized that that Hiker had just turned the corner and was watching her.

"Well, little lady, think you could outrun me?" he laughed a little scarily, and Jojo froze. What was with this guy?

"Okay, you've got to stop following me!" she said with a huff, placing her hands on her hips. Anger was telling her to scream a little more, but she managed to shut her emotions up.

"You've got to stop running from me. Then we won't have this problem, will we?" he said, and, once again, Jojo didn't like the way he sounded. He moved forward again, and Jojo started to walk backwards, ready to recall Zero and make a run for it. However, she found herself backed into a wall with a very scary man towering over her.

"Stop it!" she hissed at him, something in her mind was telling her to run. She couldn't run; there was nowhere to escape to and, besides, her legs wouldn't move. This guy was going to mug her, or hurt her, or rape her – whatever that meant – and all she had was a brain-dead blob of pink that couldn't protect anything even if he wanted to. When he made no effort to back up, she did the only thing she could do – she screamed.

A few moments passed, and although the Hiker winced at her high-pitched shriek, he made no effort to move away. She stopped the scream and looked up at him with panic in her eyes; why wasn't he going away? What did he want? "Help!" she shouted, her voice small and full of fear, but she hadn't seen any other trainers around to help her. The Hiker reached out and took her bag, which she surrendered without argument. Unfortunately for him, however, Zero finally realized what was going on and had managed to aim a Water Gun at his face.

"Zero!" Jojo gasped, watching the tall man back away and drop the bag. "How did you…?" Deciding not to question it, she quickly grabbed the canvas bag and pressed the button on the Poké Ball, beginning to run as her Pokémon dematerialized. This was the third time she was running away, and she began to get used to the sweaty feeling on her forehead and in her boots.

After a good ten minutes, she saw a bright light ahead of her. Without breaking her speed, she pushed herself farther and managed to get through the entrance and kept on running. She wanted as much distance as possible between her and that Hiker.

She stepped into the glistening sun with a relieved sigh as she caught her breath, and it was only then that she realized her empty stomach screaming at her for food. She wasn't in the mood for any of the fruit she had packed the night before, but, as she walked towards Violet City, the pagoda-esque building near the Bellsprout Tower was giving off a delicious smell; she did have a little money, and a warm, fresh breakfast was sounding very appealing right about now.

* * *

After a very tasty meal at Bellsprout Cuisine, Jojo searched through her bag to find the money she had packed the night before. To her horror, however, the zipped inner pocket that it had been carefully placed in was opened and empty. "What?" she said with a high-pitched moan as she realized what had happened. That stupid hiker! That's why he had been following her; he wanted her money!

The more troubling matter at the moment, however, was how she was going to pay for her food. The worry creased itself onto her face, and she was sure people could see something was wrong; tears began to prick at her eyes as she attempted to keep them at bay; this was not how her journey was supposed to begin!

"Are you okay?" Jojo looked up at the girl hovering over her table with concern in her eyes. She pushed her blonde hair behind her ear, cocking her head as she waited for an answer. A Charmander was at her side, and he gave a happy "Char!" in greeting.

Jojo nodded and sighed, wishing that she wasn't in public; that way, she could just cry without having an entire restaurant staring at her.

"Really? You don't look okay," she stated, sitting down in the chair across from Jojo. "I'm Izzy, by the way."

"I'm Jojo," she replied glumly, "and apparently, my money got stolen and now I can't pay for this meal."

"Aww, that sucks," Izzy pouted in sympathy. "How 'bout this? I'll pay for you this time, but the next time we meet, you pay me back. Kay?"

Jojo blinked and grinned. "Really? Thanks so much!" she squealed with joy. She paused for a moment, "But how do you know I'll see you again?"

Izzy shrugged. "Oh, we're definitely going to meet again. I can tell. You're a trainer, right?" Jojo nodded, and she continued, "Yep, I'll see you later on in your journey. Do you have any badges yet?"

"Nope," Jojo said, "but after a bit of training, I'm challenging Falkner."

"How many Pokémon do you have?"

"Just one so far," she sighed.

"Before you go against Falkner, you'll need at least two good ones. Gym battles are three on three, so it's almost impossible to take him with just one. Be prepared," Izzy nodded sagely before breaking into a grin. "This mentoring stuff isn't going to work for me," she laughed, sticking her tongue out playfully. "I'll see you later!" With that, she sauntered off, leaving only a small pile of money behind.

* * *

"Look for something strong, Zero," Jojo instructed the hippopotamus-like Pokémon, who was currently fascinated by his Poké Ball. He was staring at it blankly, but eventually reached out and touched the center of it, which caused him to return into the ball. "Zero!" she called exasperatedly, picking up the ball and releasing him again. "Stop messing around! We've got a Pokémon to catch…a new friend for you. We just have to find him first."

The duo was on the outskirts of Violet, searching in the wilderness that an older trainer had suggested to her. However, there apparently was a pack of Growlithe around here and it was advisable to keep a good distance from them; they were also, apparently, very strong. Jojo wasn't afraid, however; she was certain she could handle a little puppy, after all – and so the two were searching, hoping for one to show itself.

A slight rustle in one of the bushes made Jojo freeze immediately – Zero did the same a few moments later. As they turned slowly in that direction, though, a Pidgey flapped nonchalantly out causing the rookie trainer to scowl. "Ugh!" she hissed, kicking a rock into the bushes and going back to searching.

When the rock hit the back of her head, however, she spun back around, straight into the face of a Growlithe with a cocky grin on his face.

"Water Gun," she commanded Zero slowly, not wanting the Growlithe to run away. She could already tell that this one was the one, and she would not let any sudden movements mess this chance up.

Eventually, the stream of water was shot directly where the wild Puppy Pokémon was standing – or had been standing, had he not dodged it effortlessly.

"Again," she stated, her voice still low. The jet was directed to the Growlithe's previous location, but once again he had moved with blinding speed. Now, however, he was on the offensive; he moved in and bit Zero firmly on the tail. "Throw him off!" she yelled, forgetting to keep quiet. A Hoothoot up in a tree unleashed a Screech angrily at her, obviously unhappy about being woken up. Ignoring it, she watched as Zero managed to fling him off and heard the painful sounding bang once the wild Growlithe hit the tree, wincing slightly.

The wild Growlithe decided he had had enough; he picked himself up and prepared to make a bolt for the rest of his pack, whom, he was sure, would soon arrive after hearing that Hoothoot's obnoxious Screech. Unfortunately for him, the girl had other plans.

"Absolutely not!" she hissed, stomping her foot viciously. "Too much as gone wrong today! You are being captured." She looked menacingly at the Growlithe, who stopped dead in his tracks, looking up fearfully at this towering girl. She was…frightening, to say the least. After a moment passed, he hardened his face again and attempted to make a run for it; the blonde followed in hot pursuit. He cleared a large leap over a fallen log while she hit a rock and took a devastating fall.

Jojo felt the hot prick of tears at her eyes again as she looked at her scraped palms, which were just beginning to bleed. The empty Poké Ball that she had held firmly in her hand had rolled about a foot away, and her brand new dress was now dirty. Unable to contain herself, Joanna simply placed her head back onto the ground and let her tears fall freely. The way her life had turned around completely in just one night was too much for the ten-year-old, and she was simply letting it out. She needed to, at the very least.

The wild Growlithe sighed as he watched the girl fall, and he could smell the fresh blood that he was sure was coming from her. He frowned, hating to think that he had made this girl cry. He jumped over the log again and walked up to the fallen trainer. In an effort to stop her sobbing, he nuzzled her cheek to no avail; the tears only seemed to flow harder at that point. Inside, he knew what he had to do – he just knew he would regret it.

The Growlithe rolled the Poké Ball in front of her line of sight – this managed to stop the sobs, but tears were, unfortunately, still coming strong. She began hiccupping, watching him in interest but refusing to sit up. He scowled as he tapped the center button with his nose; the ball expanded from the size of a golf ball to the size of a base ball. Making sure she was still looking, he said a small prayer to Mew before tapping the button again.

In a flash of red light, he was inside.

The ear-piercing shriek that followed made the Growlithe glad he was in the ball, where the sound was greatly muted. "Ohmigosh!" she screamed, causing several Hoothoot to shout back at her in annoyance. "Ohmigosh ohmigosh ohmigosh!" She began bouncing around, holding the no longer empty ball tightly in her hands. "Didja see that, Zero? We did it! We caught a Growlithe!" The Slowpoke looked blankly at her, before he suddenly showed some sign of alertness. Of course, with Jojo's luck, his attention was not on her; it was directed to the several pairs of eyes that were now glaring at the duo. It was several tension-filled moments of silence later that Jojo finally spoke.

"How fast can you run, Zero?"

* * *

A/N; OC submission is officially closed, so no need for this anymore, huh? ;) Sorry guys; you snooze, you lose!

…I hate that saying.


	3. Chapter 3

A Growlithe leapt from the bushes right in front of her, its teeth bared.

Jojo gasped and took a few quick steps backward before falling down into a sitting position. As she stumbled, the rest of the pack crept out, together creating a chorus of low growls.

"Water Gun!" Jojo choked at Zero, whose previously alert expression had eased back into its blank, relaxed gaze. "Water Gun!" she shouted again, but he made no move to attack.

Jojo growled angrily before realizing it was probably a _good_ thing to leave these Growlithe unharmed; she really wasn't interested in seeing them even more provoked then they were now.

A red light flashed from the ground, and she remembered her newly captured Growlithe with a small sigh of relief. It wasn't very fitting, however; one Growlithe against its pack wouldn't do much…especially when his only allies were a brain-dead potato sack and a naïve ten-year-old.

He barked at the largest, which Jojo assumed was the leader. The alpha drew himself to full height and stared down Jojo's, who recoiled slightly before returning the glare viciously.

A series of back and forth barks began to ensue; judging by what she saw, her Growlithe was…_reasoning_ with the pack? She stared at the two, utterly perturbed by this exchange.

After a particularly fierce growl from her own, another Puppy Pokémon from the side jumped forward and let out a cackling bark, which forced the entire pack into Poochyena-esque laughter. Jojo shuddered; it was menacing in a way.

The alpha growled and took two steps forward before pouncing on her Growlithe. The duo began snarling, biting and sending flames at each other in a feral way that Jojo hadn't ever seen in the countless leagues she'd watched on television. Her eyes widened as she saw them tearing at each other, yelps and barks emanating from their tussle. She couldn't tell which was winning and which was losing, all she knew was that one was being thoroughly beaten.

The alpha took a step back, and Jojo gasped at the sight of her newly captured Growlithe on the ground, defeated and unconscious.

"Rocket…" she said in a faint voice; she wasn't quite sure of where the nickname had come from, but somewhere in the fighting she had unconsciously dubbed him 'Rocket'.

She reached slowly for his discarded ball and placed in it her bag; somehow, it seemed as though recalling him would anger the Growlithe further. Her face hardened as she looked back down at Rocket, and she glared angrily at the pack. How _dare_ they make her day even worse than it already was?

Figuring that she was already as low as she could possibly be, she picked up a few rocks beside her and began chucking them at the alpha.

The rest of the pack responded instantaneously. Immediately, they began moving in for her, snarling and snapping their teeth as they got closer. She shrieked with fear and kicked the nearest one in the face before jumping over them and grabbing Rocket's unconscious body. "Water Gun!" she screamed at Zero, who – thankfully – obliged this time. However, the majority of them remained unscratched and began to bite at the Slowpoke. One was sinking its teeth into Jojo's boot; she squealed and hit it repeatedly on the head with a stick until it released her. She fumbled in her bag, while still fending herself with a pathetic twig, and finally grabbed on to Zero's ball. She recalled the Dopey Pokémon and was already out of the clearing before he had completely returned.

* * *

"So, Mrs. Jones, you say she disappeared in the middle of the night?" Officer Jenny asked, taking notes while listening to the distraught family.

"Yes," Jackie said anxiously, eyes red and puffy. The four were out on their porch in their pajamas, clutching tightly to one another. The only one who seemed unperturbed was Jake, who was sitting on the bench swing and kicking his legs back and forth, quietly singing to himself.

"I see," Officer Jenny replied, nodding her head and scribbling. "Do you have any reason to believe this was of her own accord, or do you suspect it was a kidnapping?"

"Umm-" Jackie began, faltering.

"Was there any sign of a struggle?" Jackie shook her head. "Did she have any reason to leave? Abuse?" Jenny probed, staring down the distressed mother.

"No!" Jackie snapped angrily. "But…" she cut herself off again, looking down.

"But what?" Jenny glowered, crossing her arms.

"We got in a fight last night. I told her she would have to wait a while before she began her journey, because my husband is out of a real job and her brothers can't take care of themselves…" She began sobbing into her husband's shoulder, unable to say anything else.

Jenny nodded, taking this in. "When was her tenth birthday?"

Jim answered this time, patting his wife's back. "A few weeks ago. Her journey was scheduled to begin today."

"I see," Jenny repeated. "Then I'm sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Jones, but there's nothing I can do."

"What do you mean!" Jackie shouted, her depressed demeanor evaporating instantly. "She didn't have our permission! Bring her _back_!" she hissed in a deathly low voice.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Jones, but under the Johto jurisdiction, anyone ten years of age or older, regardless of parental consent, may begin traveling as long as they are accompanied by at least one Pokémon recognized by the official Pokémon League."

"But-" Jackie spluttered, "but we didn't give her a Pokémon! She didn't have one, and Whiskers is still here, so she couldn't have taken her!"

"Well, we may be able to do something about that. Did she leave this town's premises with a Pokémon?"

"No!" Jackie yelled, furious by now. "No, she didn't! So go out there and _find her_!"

Jenny scribbled more notes onto the pad before looking back at the family. "We may be able to bring her back because of that, but there is no guarantee she'll stay. After all, once she has her own Pokémon, she can leave any time she wants."

A faint voice in the distance began to carry over to them, and all five heads turned to the west. "Officer Jenny!" Professor Elm shouted, running quickly towards the group. "Officer Jenny!"

Jenny gave a deep sigh before say, "Yes, Elm?"

Professor Elm's alarm system was the bane of Jenny's existence. Every time a Pokémon decided to break out of its ball in the middle of the night, the siren went off. Technically, she was supposed to respond to it, but the number of false alarms had simply extinguished any desire for her to get up at two in the morning and recall a Pokémon to its ball.

"You didn't come last night," Elm glared, running his hands through his bedhead hair.

"No kidding," she snapped. "Did another Whismur have a bad dream?" she asked sarcastically.

"No!" he replied angrily. "No, not this time! No, this time it was real! This time, I actually had something stolen!" he smirked triumphantly at Jenny, who faltered for a moment.

"Wait, you're happy about that?" she questioned, cocking her head.

"Wha-? No, of course not! But I took inventory this morning, and there were a couple of balls on the floor and one was_ missing_!"

Jenny blinked rapidly. New Bark Town was such a small town; nothing ever got stolen…ever! "Which ball was it?"

"Uhh…a Slowpoke's."

Jenny snickered, breaking into giggles. "A _Slowpoke_? Who in their right mind would steal a…oh."

She sobered, and looked at Jojo's parents; Jim was laughing uncontrollably, while Jackie was shooting him a murderous glare.

"She – got – a - Slowpoke?" he snorted through his chuckles.

"Apparently," Jenny confirmed. "This changes things, then. Now that she's considered a suspect for robbery, we can definitely bring her back and press charges, if Elm wishes."

"No," Jim said firmly, having finally stopped smiling.

"What?" Jackie, Jenny, and Elm said in unison.

"I want her to do this. If we bring her back, then she won't be able to start with a Slowpoke. This is her punishment. She wants to go on a journey before she's allowed? Fine, but she's doing it with a Slowpoke."

"That's not entirely up to you," Jenny replied. "It was Elm's property that was stolen, after all."

Everyone turned to face Professor Elm, who looked at Jim's face. "I owe you that much, Jim." Jim knew that his former boss was referring to his job – or lack thereof. The two men nodded respectfully at each other.

"Well, then, looks like my business is done here," Jenny said happily. With a quick salute, she turned on her heel and hopped onto her motorcycle, speeding away into the newly risen sun.

From the kitchen, the Jones family felt the smell of burning pancakes reach their noses, wondering – hoping – that they did the right thing.

* * *

"Growl!" Rocket barked happily, licking Jojo's face.

"He's fine," Nurse Joy assured the distraught girl, who pet her Growlithe carefully. "You ought to be careful, though. How did you manage to escape that pack with only two Pokémon? They're known to be some of the most vicious wild Pokémon in Johto."

Jojo shuddered at the memory of running from the forest, and she looked at some of the burns and bite marks she had already obtained on her first day. She sighed, and, for once, thanked her lucky stars for having a temperamental older sister. A lifetime of running from an angry Jillian probably gave her what she needed to escape those Growlithe. Of course, she hadn't managed to make it completely unscathed. With a half-hearted smile, she managed, "Practice." The nurse nodded a little, unsure of how to respond. "Oh!" Jojo piped up, remembering something. "Can you register my PokéGear?"

"Of course!" Joy replied, holding out her hand for the pink device. "I'll need your full name, hometown, age, and birth date."

Jojo nodded, but faltered a little, blushing. Shiftily, she looked around the rest of the Pokémon Center – there weren't many others, just a blue-haired girl who was simply sitting in a chair with an Absol laying across her lap and a black-haired boy, who was wrestling a disobedient Bellsprout into its ball. What if she was already wanted in Violet City ? She shuddered; perhaps it was a test. Perhaps Joy had already recognized her, and was waiting for her to admit to being a criminal. Well, that was _not_ going to happen!

"Jillian Jones," Jojo replied smoothly, flashing a sweet, innocent smile.

"Middle name?" Joy said absentmindedly, looking at the computer she was typing in to. Jojo paused for a moment, scrutinizing the pink-haired lady. Deciding that she didn't know Jojo was a thief, she sighed in relief.

"Oh, oops!" she giggled, blushing as though she was embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I accidentally gave you my sister's name. Joanna Elizabeth Jones, no "h" in Joanna," she grinned again, looking expectantly at the nurse.

Joy smiled at the young girl and pressed backspace, before correcting the mistake. "Alright, hometown?"

Jojo gave the kind nurse the rest of the information before scooping the newly healed Growlithe into her arms. "C'mon, Rocket, let's go!" She turned to make her way out of the door, but didn't make it very far.

"Wait," a voice called, startling her. Jojo turned to face the blue-haired girl, who had stood up and walked towards her, her Absol in tow.

"Umm, yeah?" she asked uncertainly; after her previous experience with the hiker, she was a little wary of strangers.

"What did you say his name was?" she asked, pointing at the Growlithe.

"…Rocket?" she said, but it came out more as a question. The girl's eyes narrowed.

"Would that be in reference to _Team_ Rocket?"

Jojo faltered, clutching her newly-caught Pokémon to her chest. "No," she said defiantly, glaring slightly at the stranger. "Who are you?"

"Call me Kyra," she replied stiffly. "Do you know what his name implies?" Jojo shook her head, squinting at the girl. "Team Rocket is an evil organization that was extinguished long ago," Kyra began; her tone was startlingly harsh. "However, recently there have been reports of people claiming to be members of it – or rather, a new one risen from the older one's ashes. There is no proof to the contrary, except for the fact that their leader, Giovanni, died nearly fifteen years ago." Jojo winced, cradling Rocket even closer to her. "A name like that would imply _affiliation_ with them," she hissed, and Jojo took a couple of steps backwards.

"I'm not part of Team Rocket!" she huffed back at Kyra, who was creeping her out; she made a mental note to simply ignore any more strangers that attempted to speak to her.

Kyra blinked, and her tone changed dynamically. "Sorry," she murmured in a melancholy voice. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"I'm not scared," Jojo glowered, hoisting Rocket up, who was falling a little in her arms. Her voice softened, though, as she added, "It's alright. Are you okay?" She cocked her head, waiting for a reply. Kyra nodded and, without another word, she left the center.

* * *

"Are you ready, Rocket?" Jojo grinned down at the young Pokémon, but it fell a moment later. She shuddered as she looked at the large, imposing Gym doors, and her stomach contracted in nervousness.

Rocket and Jojo had made a surprising bond; he had only been caught earlier that day, and the two were suddenly inseparable. They had been training together on the other side of Violet – far away from the Growlithe pack – and the wild Pidgey and Weedle had been no match for Rocket's fire attacks. Jojo was grinning with pride at the memory of the singed Pokémon, but it faded as she pushed on the heavy doors.

"Hello…?" she called meekly into the large, drafty Gym, feeling Butterfree fluttering in her stomach.

"Who's there?" a voice answered, scaring her into shrieking.

"Umm, Jojo?" she replied, smiling in spite of herself.

"You've come to challenge Falkner?" the voice continued.

Jojo glared around the Gym, wondering where the voice was coming from. With a sudden surge of confidence, she snapped, "No, I've come to challenge Jasmine."

There was a silence following her lame sarcasm, causing her to cross her arms as the Butterfree flapped their way out of her gut.

"Proceed up the staircase," was all the voice said. A little uncertainly, Jojo walked up the stairs, onto the roof.

There was a large arena on top of the Gym, and the bright sunlight made Jojo shield her eyes and Rocket hide in her shadow. To the side stood the boy she assumed to be Falkner, holding a microphone that she assumed to be connected to some speakers in the lower part of the Gym.

"Hi!" she chirped excitedly.

He smiled politely. "Hello," he nodded, looking her over; she was obviously a new trainer, but what she could have done to completely destroy her dress so quickly was beyond him. "You're here to challenge Jasmine, I hear?" he joked, grinning.

Rolling her eyes, Jojo said, "Let's just do this! I want my first badge!" She crossed her arms and stared him down, as though daring him to deny her.

Falkner sighed, his cheery mood gone. It was going to be one of _those _trainers. He nodded to the referee, who went up to Jojo and held his hand out for her PokéGear. She obliged, and after quickly checking through her Trainer Card, he nodded in approval and motioned to the right side of the field, where Jojo practically skipped to, Rocket at her heels.

The referee walked onto his podium, holding flags in each hand. "The battle between Joanna Jones of Olivine City and Violet Leader Falkner is about to begin. This battle will be three-on-three with no substitutes for the leader. You may begin!" With that, he dropped his flags from above his head, and the battle commenced.

Jojo's stomach clenched in anticipation. This was it! She was finally doing what she'd wanted more than anything, ever since she watched Jasmine battle for the first time when she was four. She was finally going to show the world that a new trainer had come about, and she was going to blow the rest of the competition out of the water.

She smirked when she heard the referee say the name of her old town, Olivine. She had lived there until they moved three years ago, taking her away from the rest of her friends and, if she really thought about it, causing her to be here…with a Slowpoke…covered in burns and scratches from rabid feral Growlithe. She grinned, happy to have told Nurse Joy Olivine instead of New Bark.

"Showtime, Rocket!" she cried, overly-enthusiastic. With a cocky smirk, the Growlithe leapt forward.

"Hoothoot!" Falkner called, throwing a ball into the air. A round owl-like Pokémon appeared, hooting dolefully at being woken up in the middle of the day.

"Ember!" Jojo said confidently, knowing that his Hoothoot would be no match for Rocket. Radiating the same assurance as his trainer, the Puppy Pokémon unleashed a stream of fire towards the owl.

"Dodge it," Falkner said lazily, and the owl flapped easily out of the way of the flames.

Joanna staggered; none of the wild Pokémon they practiced against had managed to escape that attack. She frowned. That strategy was…gone. Despite it, she huffed, "Ember! Keep it up until you hit it!" It took at least another five shots before Rocket managed to singe its wings. "Tackle!" she commanded, and the Growlithe sped recklessly towards the owl, making contact with its stomach. "Ember again!" she cheered, elated.

"Peck!" Falkner countered, glaring at the girl. Effortlessly dodging the steady burst of fire, his Hoothoot's beak connected with Rocket's side, making him cry in pain.

Jojo glowered back at her opponent. "Tackle while it's still close!" she cried, and Rocket rammed his head into it, effectively knocking it out. She grinned cockily; this is what she had been _born_ to do.

"Doduo!" Falkner said, after recalling his Hoothoot.

"Ember!" Jojo giggled, knowing that Doduo couldn't fly, meaning it would be hard pressed to avoid the attack the same way Hoothoot had done.

Nonetheless, Falkner called, "Dodge!" With startling speed, the two-headed bird crowed and sidestepped the attack gracefully.

Jojo groaned, her face falling. Couldn't this guy just lose so she could get a badge a leave already? She frowned, realizing that this was actually her first trainer battle. How could she have not realized that? With a shrug, she called out, "Quick Attack!"

"Dodge it again!" Falkner cried, but it was too late – Rocket had already managed to hit the ostrich-like Pokémon.

"Ember while it's down!" Jojo cheered, grinning. Puffing his fur elegantly, Rocket drew himself up and unleashed a strong flow of flames.

The Doduo fell, effortlessly defeated by the fire attack. Jojo laughed out loud; this was _too _easy!

Falkner's face darkened. It was now one-on-three (little did he know that Jojo only had two Pokémon), but he wasn't worried. He saved the best for last, after all.

"Go, Pidgeotto!" A large, graceful bird appeared, flapping her wings arrogantly. She was gorgeous and she _knew_ it.

"Alright, Rocket, Ember again!" She smirked; even if Rocket missed, she would be able to win against the idiotic bird.

Of course, the Pidgeotto dodged. "Mirror Move," Falkner laughed, and Jojo froze. She hadn't ever heard of _that_ move.

Opening her beak, Falkner's Pokémon let of a burst of blaze, startling Jojo. Pidgeotto was a Flying-type, not Fire!

"Wait," the ten-year-old whined. "That's not fair! How'd you do that?"

"Mirror Move copies the last move used by the opponent and sends it back," Falkner smirked, angering the blonde.

"Bite!" she snarled at Rocket, who charged at the Pidgeotto, baring his teeth.

"Fury Attack!" Falkner called back, and the bird swooped into the Growlithe, dodging his snapping jaws and stabbing him with her beak.

Pidgeotto rose away from Rocket, who was lying on the ground, unconscious. Jojo froze; that meant she only had Zero left. She hadn't trained him at all! Izzy's words rang in her ear - _Gym battles are three on three, so it's almost impossible to take him with just one_. She pouted a little; so what if she had been trying to do the impossible? "Return," she murmured meekly, sighing. This was _not_ going to end well. With a deep breath and forced confidence, she yelled, "Showtime, Zero!"

Her pink blob entered, and Jojo felt her stomach clench again. "Umm, Water Gun?" she said, lacking the force she had used with Rocket.

"Peck!" Falkner smirked, and his Pidgeotto swooped in low, ramming the Slowpoke in his side. Jojo moaned – she knew what was going to happen. Hadn't they gone through something very similar to this? She recalled kicking him in his side, and him turning to shoot in the other direction.

Pidgeotto flapped her way back up, circling around him to reach is other side, hoping to avoid any damage. Unfortunately – for her, at least – Zero faced her and executed a flawless Water Gun, hitting her squarely.

Jojo froze, blinking rapidly. If anything, she hadn't seen _that _coming.

Falkner was also obviously impressed. "How'd you teach him to do that?" he demanded, watching Pidgeotto shake the water off her wings.

Joanna had no idea how to answer – she _hadn't_ taught him to do that. Smiling smoothly at him, however, she giggled, "It takes talent. More talent then you could hope to have, though, so you're out of luck." She pouted as though sympathetic to his problem.

Falkner narrowed his eyes – she _was_ one of those trainers. Overconfident, cocky, naïve, and obnoxious; someone had to put her in her place. "Fury Attack!" he hissed, and the bird flew in close once again.

"Water Gun!" Jojo laughed again. Was he really that stupid?

"Stay where you are!" Falkner commanded, and his Pokémon simply moved up, while Zero faced the wrong direction and shot, missing the wall completely and probably drenching anyone standing below the Gym.

Jojo insides chilled once again; she had no other strategy. She didn't even know any more of Zero's moves!

Scrambling for her Pokédex, she whipped it forcefully out of her bag and pointed it at Zero, turning it on for the first time.

"_Hello_," the Pokédex said in a monotone, robotic voice. "_I am Dexterity, the Pokédex programmed for Joanna Jones of-_"

"Shut up!" Jojo snapped at the thing, drowning out the rest of its monologue. "Hurry up and tell me the rest of Zero's moves!"

"_Slowpoke, the Dopey Pokémon. It is always so absent-minded that it won't react, even if its flavorful tail is bitten_."

Jojo glowered at it, while Falkner tapped his foot on the other side of the field, waiting politely but impatiently. However, she raised her eyebrows as it finished. Flavorful tail? She glanced over the pink device to look at Zero's tail, which didn't look any more delicious than the rest of him…in other words, not at all.

"_Slowpoke's moves are Water Gun, Yawn, Tackle, and Confusion_," it continued, allowing Jojo to give a sigh of relief before stowing back in her bag.

She frowned, though, as she went over the moves in her head. Water Gun was obviously no good, and Tackle probably wouldn't even be able to hit, considering Zero's speed – or lack thereof. She didn't even _know_ what Yawn did, but…maybe she was on to something with Confusion.

It couldn't dodge it, right? Not when it was transferred through their minds…right? "Confusion!" she cried confidently, her confidence rising yet again.

Zero's face hardened, and she felt a surge of trust in him. He could _so_ win this! Pidgeotto squawked in discomfort, and Jojo grinned as she watched her flail.

Falkner glowered. "Finish it off with Fury Attack!" he commanded, and his bird lunged in fearlessly, closer and closer…

"Confusion!" Jojo tried again, sticking her tongue out rather immaturely at the Leader. The Psychic attack hit, and Jojo laughed sadistically. With their minds that close to each other, the attack was only strengthened. Unable to escape it, the Pidgeotto fainted.

There was a silence as Jojo took it in, watching Falkner recall his strongest fighter. Something was ringing in her ears, blocking out all sound, before something exploded somewhere in the back of her mind.

That was it. She had done it. She'd _gotten her first badge_!

She shrieked (much to Falkner's dismay; he simply covered his ears) and ran across the field, where the Leader dropped the Zephyr Badge rather unceremoniously into her hands. She squealed again and, unable to contain herself, hugged him before recalling Zero and running out of the Gym, screaming the entire way.

* * *

**A/N; Oh wow, I really need to be updating faster.**

**So much to say, even though I really don't want to type anymore. Ugh.**

**First things first – this chapter. That battle was really hard to write. It's actually the first battle I'm publishing, to tell you the truth. I needed her to win and seem confident in herself, but I wanted you guys to see that she's still very inexperienced and doesn't quite know what she's doing. She's lucky when she battles…and just a tad unlucky everywhere else. ;D Any criticism on writing better battles would be LOVED.**

**Kyra belongs to JigglyPuff's Pillow.**

**Oh, Kyra. I love you~ No, really. She's one of my favorite OCs, written by one of my favorite people…no, this isn't ass-kissing. What are you _talking_ about? ;)**

**I know she's a teensy bit OOC with her little anger trip there…but everyone gets angry now and then, right? She snaps out of it, though, and she'll remain in character for the rest of her appearances. Sorry 'bout that, Puff!**

**OC sign-ups are officially CLOSED. I've got more that enough. Thanks, everyone! :)**

**On the topic of OCs, I've reached a very tough decision on the third main character. The winner was Fang's OC, Glen!**

**However, I want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who submitted a character. Honestly, it was nearly impossible to choose. I can tell you right now that three of them will definitely be recurring rivals for him, and will make constant appearances throughout the story. Thank you, thank you, thank you EVERYONE. I truly appreciate the time you put into them, and I feel bad only being able to pick one!**

**Pretty sure that sums this chapter up. Thanks to everyone who reviewed!**

**xoxo**

**Irene**


	4. Chapter 4

She stepped into the bright sunlight, grinning uncontrollably and skipping all the way to the Pokémon Center, where she quickly healed both Rocket and Zero. She paused only to check her PokéGear, which held a map, before grabbing her Pokémon back from Nurse Joy and dancing some more, causing a few onlookers to stare.

She exited through the west side of Violet, taking care to avoid the Growlithe-ridden forest, and found herself quite unable to suppress her grin. The sun was beginning to fade over the horizon, and Jojo sighed as her stomach growled again. She was already too far from Violet to turn back before it got dark, and she froze, her happiness slowly beginning to ebb away. She frowned and reached for her PokéGear again, checking for the nearest Pokémon Center. It wasn't _that_ far away, but it meant another half hour before she could eat! She glared at the device before slamming it shut and putting in her bag, proceeding to pull out an apple she had packed the night before. The blonde bit into it with a huff, preferring someone warm at the moment.

The sun continued to sink lower in the sky, and the late summer day gave her a sudden chill. She shuddered; Jojo hadn't ever been good with anything dark.

That wasn't all her fault; her sister did specialize in Dark-types, after all (along with that Carvanha from camp). Not to mention, of course, the fact that Jillian's Umbreon hadn't ever taken a liking to her. Shade, the twelve-year-old's dancing partner, was often subject to the closest thing Jojo could do to resemble a kick, while the blonde, in return, was usually given a good Shadow Ball…to the gut.

She continued to bite quietly into the apple, which was soft and mushy – she grimaced with disgust. It didn't take long for the sky to turn a deep blue with the clouds ominously murky. A few moments after Jojo happened to take notice of this, she clasped her hands over her ears.

The thunder was _loud._ Of all the things the ten-year-old hated – Bugs (Ariados especially), her sister, Dark-types, her sister, Ghosts, Umbreon, her sister and her sister – thunderstorms were the absolute worst. Unlike the majority of her friends, who simply disliked the loud noises, it was the thought that it only took one bolt of the pretty lights to kill her that made her want to run and hide underneath her bed.

Another clap sounded before the rain began to pour. She shrieked and started running towards the general direction her map had pointed. It only took a minute or so before her clothes were soaked; she clutched her arms closer to her and ran faster.

_BOOM!_ The sound reminded her that she was far, far away from her warm and fuzzy pink bed, where she could curl up under the covers and snuggle close to her Pokémon dolls and watch the bright lights from her window, knowing that no matter what, she'd be protected, simply because she was inside, with her family, where no one could hurt her.

_BOOM!_ She remembered the time she and her friends, way back when she still lived in Olivine, were sleeping over at Rachel Wilkinson's. A storm started, and the first thing six-year-old Jojo had done was dive for her sleeping bag. Within seconds, her friends had formed a huddle around her, keeping her safe and warm and dry as they went back to watching the movie version of _The Misty Mermaid_.

_BOOM!_ But she was not in Olivine, nor was she in New Bark; she was on Route 32, running and running and running from the monster storm that was coming to eat her up.

_BOOM!_ Her hair slapped her face as she allowed just a few tears of fear to fall freely, covering her eyes from the bright flashes of light that were blinding her in the dark.

_BOOM!_ But the light didn't fade this time; it remained there as she continued to squint and squeal with terror.

No, wait, that was the Pokémon Center…

The sodden blonde was scowling so viciously as she stepped through the door that even the unusually sweet Nurse Joy flinched. She stomped towards the counter, leaving a trail of water in her wake, and slapped her PokéGear into the pink-haired woman's hands. The poor nurse said nothing but "Room for one?" to which she received a rather nasty and stiff nod, complete with a glare. "T-third door to your left," she managed, somehow keeping the sugary tone in her voice.

Jojo threw the door open with a snarl as the cool air attacked her soaking skin, causing goosebumps to erupt all over her skinny body. The door slammed behind her, making a sound reminiscent of the thunder, but she refused to jump and show weakness. She ripped her dress and her rain-filled boots off, grabbing a towel from the attached bathroom and drying herself off. She sighed as she began to feel a little warmer, and after wrapping her hair on top of her head the way her mother had shown her, she pulled her pajamas on and snuggled into her covers, despite their distinct lack of anything pink or fuzzy.

When she awoke, without any concept of the time or how long she had slept, Jojo flung the not pink and not fuzzy covers off of her, and changed quickly into her dress and boots, which she had been smart enough to hang upside down, so they would dry.

Wait…

No she hadn't! The rather irresponsible girl had simply left them lying on the ground, ensuring (although she didn't quite have the experience to know) that they would be pleasantly damp and smelly when she awoke. Her eyes widened and she hesitated to pull them back on, but a few moments standing in her short (pink and fuzzy) pajamas changed her mind; she quickly dressed and grabbed her things.

She walked into the lobby of the Pokémon Center, where breakfast was being served free to all trainers. She glided over to the bagels and put one in the toaster, frowning as she considered her problem. Last time she checked, the laws of physics definitely didn't allow clothes to hang themselves in the middle of the night. Not that she actually _knew_ the laws of physics, but…

Jojo scrunched her nose as she walked casually towards the cream cheese, burning her hand slightly on the hot bagel. It didn't make sense, to say the least. And although thoughts of wayward Gastly and obnoxious pranksters floated through her head, she denounced them quickly. Whoever had hung her clothes _helped_ her, right? So didn't that mean they would want to show themselves so she could thank them?

With a shrug, she bit into her breakfast hungrily.

BREAK

The cave was small, according to her PokéGear, which apparently told you much more than the older models. She could view very detailed satellite maps of anywhere in Johto (and select other regions, with the proper cards inserted). How the creators got satellite images of _inside _Union Cave was beyond her, but she really didn't care that much. The only thing on her mind right now was the other side of the cavern, where Azalea Town and, more importantly, Bugsy awaited her.

Still, she hesitated in front of the entrance, a little too unsure from the last time she entered a cave. With a deep breath, she drew herself up and vowed to punch anyone who came too close. Confidence slightly renewed, she stepped bravely through the opening, pausing to look around once she got inside. She could see the exit from where she stood, and sighed with relief. She started walking slowly, breathing deeply, although this cave had much better lighting and there was no one else around. Still, as she heard a Geodude or Zubat rustle in the darker corners, she sped up more and more until by the time she reached her destination, she was full-out running.

The sunlight wrapped around her and she realized that the cave had been much colder than it felt. She shivered as her goosebumps disappeared and broke into a sprint when she saw Azalea in the distance. Although she made it with a stitch in her side, she had _made it._

And was shocked when she did.

Azalea was small, but warm and bright at the same time. She glanced briefly at the time, which read 10:42. She shuddered a little at the coincidence, but reminded herself that there were no creepy hikers around to steal her money.

What surprised her, though, were the Slowpoke.

Every empty space seemed to be Slowpoke-ridden; each street corner and house seemed to be covered in them. Where a living one was not, there was either a drawing or a doll of one.

Jojo's eyes were wide as she scanned as far as she could see. Everything was pink, and although that was a definite plus, it was shocking all the same. Instinctively, she reached for Zero's ball, but she paused, unsure. Why were they _everywhere_?

"Surprised?" a voice asked, and she shrieked.

Two bad experiences with strangers (although Kyra's was debatable) in the same day made her want to slap whoever it was across the face and speed off into the distance. She managed to contain herself, though, when she saw who it was.

"Rachel!" she screeched in a way that rivaled a Loudred. She quickly wrapped her arms around her old friend, grinning crazily. "Oh my Mew, you're here!" Jojo giggled, before turning to the girl standing next to Rachel. "And Darby! You're here, too!" She paused, contemplating for a moment, before, "_Why_ are you here?"

Rachel, the shortest of the three, flipped her long brown hair over her shoulders and grinned. "We're getting badges, Jojo!" she chirped excitedly. "I've already got Whitney's _and_ Bugsy's."

"Me too!" Darby cheered, and the unnoticed-until-then Shellder sitting at her side chattered in agreement.

With a gasp, Jojo bent down to his level. "Hi there," she said softly, touching the top of it gently. "What's your name?"

"Shellder!" he cried happily, and Jojo giggled.

"What other Pokémon do you have?" she asked, cocking her head. "Ooh, who'd you start with?"

With a slightly cocky grin, Rachel pulled two Poké Balls, which she kept in a flower shape on her headband (Jojo pouted enviously), and released the Pokémon inside. A Mareep and a Pidgey each came out, while Darby released a Spearow along with her Shellder.

Jojo cooed over them for a short moment, before, "What about you, Jojo? How many badges do you have? And what _Pokémon_ do you have? I mean, coming from New Bark Town, you've got a really cool starter, right? Ooh, did you get Chikorita?" Rachel asked excitedly.

"Or Totodile?" Darby added.

There was an awkward moment, before Jojo pulled out her two Poké Balls sheepishly and released Zero and Rocket.

"…why do you have a Slowpoke? And where's your starter?" Rachel huffed, glaring as if Jojo had lied to her.

"Umm, funny story?" she laughed, looking down. "Seriously, you can't tell anyone, okay?" The two nodded, looking dead serious, and Jojo went into a long winded explanation of her one day adventure.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me!" Rachel yelled, her jaw hanging open.

"I can't believe you _stole from Professor Elm_!" Darby shrieked at the same time.

"Shush!" Jojo hissed at them. "Not so loud!"

"I can't believe you didn't _tell me_!" Rachel pouted.

"Oh, shut up," Jojo mumbled, blushing.

They were interrupted by a voice from the distance, and they all turned to look to the right, where a boy about their age was running towards them.

He stopped short, just in front of Jojo, where he didn't appear sweaty or even slightly out of breath. He laughed and said, "Don't you know it's illegal to catch Slowpoke in a Poké Ball here?"

Taken aback, Jojo replied, "Umm, no? I didn't catch him here."

The boy looked just as surprised. "Really? Then where else would you catch one?"

The silence was very, very awkward, as Jojo could think of no adequate reply. The nearest place to catch a Slowpoke was…Cinnawood, wasn't it? Something like that; she'd never really paid attention to Slowpoke before yesterday.

"Who are you, anyway?" Rachel added a little aggressively, saving Jojo.

"Oh, right," the boy laughed again. "Adam Mueller. You may have heard of me," he added cockily.

"No," Jojo snapped rudely. "How many badges do you have?"

The boy paused, making an unnecessarily awkward silence. He looked Jojo over, then Rachel and Darby, appearing to think hard about his answer. Finally, he replied, "None. I'm a trainer, but I just like traveling more. I don't go for badges."

Just then, Rocket, who had been growling at Adam ever since he ran up to them, barked loudly and sank his teeth into his leg.

Adam screamed like a little girl and failed wildly, attempting to remove the Pokémon from his leg.

"Rocket!" Jojo managed through her giggles. She lifted him from Adam's leg and cradled him in her arms. "Good job," she whispered quietly in his ear.

"Could you, uhh, train that thing?" Adam glowered, obviously stinging from the attack at his manhood.

Jojo shrugged. "You probably deserved it," she said with a nod.

Adam looked as though he were about to retort, but never got the chance, because an old man ran yelling out of his house. "Team Rocket!" he yelled comically, running gawkily with his cane. "I'll get you for harming the Slowpoke, Team Rocket! I'll get you!"

All three girls stared at each other before bursting out with laughter.

"Who was _that_?" Rachel laughed snottily.

"That's Old Man Kurt," Adam smirked, laughing a little as well. "But I wonder why he's going off to Slowpoke Well…" He paused and looked off in the direction Kurt ran. "It's weird, though. Some of the Slowpoke have been disappearing lately. That's why I came over, because we think it may be tourists capturing them. Speaking of which, where _did_ you get your Slowpoke, anyway?"

Jojo spluttered, blushing again. Rachel came to her rescue a second time, though, as she said, "Maybe we should follow that Kurt guy. He looked kind of crazy. Like he might hurt himself."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Speaking of which, what are your guys' names?" he added as an after thought.

After a quick introduction, the four hurried off to the Slowpoke Well, which Jojo realized she must have passed to get into the town (how had she missed that?). Shrugging, she made to enter before Adam stopped her.

"Maybe just I should go. You might hurt yourself, or something," he said to the three.

"What, you don't think we can handle it?" Jojo huffed, glaring at him.

"No, I just don't think I'll need your help," Adam replied cockily, smirking.

"Ugh! _I_ don't need _your_ help. So get out of the way!" she ordered, pushing past him. With her luck, of course, she didn't get very far.

Ominous female laughter filled the air, and the four ten-year-olds froze automatically. The same voice in the same menacing tone said, "Did someone order trouble?"

A slightly comical cackle followed, as well as, "I ordered double!"

"…what's going on?" Jojo asked in a small, worried voice.

"I don't know!" whined Rachel, clutching onto Darby.

"To trick the world into devastation!" the female voice said again, and everyone searched wildly for its source.

"To torture those not in our nation!" the male continued; the four huddled closer together.

"Causing anarchy at an unthinkable pace!"

"Come on, we're bound to win this race!"

"Seriously, who are these guys!" Adam shouted, scanning everywhere he could see.

A flash of smoke, and everyone was coughing, along with the girl's Pokémon, who had been kept out (although Zero was only now catching up; he had remained forgotten back where they had been talking).

"Whirlwind!" Darby choked through her coughs, and both her Spearow and Rachel's Pidgey obliged, easing everyone's pain. However, the dense fog still hung in the air, stinging everyone's eyes and nose.

"Combat!" Adam managed, and a Zubat appeared, immediately helping in their efforts to rid the air of smoke.

As their vision returned, two tall figures stood in front of the well. "Robin!" the female announced, and her bright green hair blinded them more than the smoke had.

"Hood!" the male added, and his even brighter pink hair made them shield their already sensitive eyes.

"I don't _like_ this!" Jojo whined, grabbing onto Adam's arm and digging her nails in deep.

"Team Rocket will win, and that's no lie!" Robin giggled sadistically.

"Surrender now, or you just may die!" Hood finished, laughing a little manically.

And as though to kill the whole evil effect, a small Zigzagoon at their feet added a rather innocent, "Goon?" at the end.

"I vote we run," Rachel said lightly, preparing to recall her Pokémon.

"Are you stupid?" Jojo shouted, crossing her arms. "We're fighting them!"

"Why?" Rachel shrieked back. "We can just run and pretend this never happened and then they can't hurt us and we'll be all okay!"

"No, we won't!" Jojo yelled in reply. "Because then they'll have beaten us and that will _not_ be okay!"

"Aww," Robin cooed, widening her eyes as though speaking to a toddler. "Do the ickle trainers need a time-out?" She turned towards Hood, who looked over the ten-year-olds mildly.

"But they're so _cute_!" he squealed, much to their chagrin. "We don't need to beat up cute little random trainers, do we?"

Rolling her eyes, Robin replied, "Well, they're trying to get _in_, aren't they?" Without waiting for a reply, she called, "Tangela, let's go!"

Hood suppressed a sigh, and released an Electabuzz. He murmured something about the only cool thing about being a Rocket was the motto as the children readied themselves for the battle. "But, Robin," he whined, looking them over. "We're outnumbered!"

"Shut up and fight them!" she snapped back. "Tangela, Vine Whip on all of them!"

"Are you kidding?" Jojo snorted, rolling her eyes. "Rocket, use Ember!" The Puppy Pokémon's reaction was quick and he sent a stream of flames at the Grass-type.

The Tangela easily dodged, while Rocket was knocked off his feet, along with Zero, Rachel's Mareep, and Darby's Shellder.

"Midget, use Fury Attack!" Rachel said, glaring at Jojo as if this was all her fault.

"You too, Spirit!" Darby yelled, and their Flying-types flew in together, each stabbing the Tangela with their beaks.

"Electabuzz, use Thunderpunch!" Hood yelled, and the Electric-type began charging up.

"Combat, counter with Supersonic!" Adam commanded, and his Zubat let out high-pitched noises that only the Electabuzz could hear.

It staggered, but not before landing a good punch on Midget, Rachel's Pidgey, and knocking it out.

"Ugh," Jojo snarled. "Rocket, Tackle the Electabuzz."

"Aww, is the little baby getting mad?" Robin pouted, cocking her head and pouting.

"No," Adam snapped, "we're just getting sick of looking at your hair. Did your stylist mix the wrong colors?"

The was a pregnant pause, before, "_What are you saying about my hair?_"

"Oh, crap," Robin muttered, taking a step away from Hood. "_Now_ you've done it."

"_There is nothing wrong with pink hair! I don't care what you say! What do you know? Electabuzz, snap out of it and use Shock Wave!_" Hood shouted, and everyone winced, save for Zero and the small Zigzagoon.

"Jojo, _do _something!" Rachel whined, hiding behind the other three. "I think you made him mad."

"I didn't make him mad, Adam did!" Jojo accused, turning to said ten-year-old.

"How was _I _supposed to know…?"

"I don't care, just _fix_ it!"

Sighing, the boy yelled, "Combat, Bite!" The Bat Pokémon swooped in close, only to give the Electabuzz a direct hit with its Shock Wave. He fell to the ground in a low, swooping motion. "Now look what you did!" he shouted at Jojo.

"Me? You didn't have to use Bite!"

"ThunderShock, Glitter!" Rachel interrupted, and her Mareep launched a weak electrical bolt towards the Electabuzz. When it had no effect, she pouted. "Man, that completely destroyed Bugsy's team!"

"That's because Electric attacks are good against-"

"Now is _not_ the time for a type match-up lesson!" Darby huffed, as both her Shelder and Spearow were knocked out by another Shock Wave.

"Quick Attack and Ember the Tangela, Rocket!" Without hesitation, he rushed into the powerful Grass-type and quickly burned it.

"Sleep Powder, Tangela!" Robin replied, and he obliged with a sprinkle of blue dust over the Puppy Pokémon.

"So, wait. We're completely dead now, aren't we?" Rachel asked slowly.

"What are you talking about? We've still got a Slowpoke!" Adam cried incredulously, looking at Rachel as though she were insane.

"Are you crazy?" Rachel screeched back. "A Slowpoke's not going to help us!"

"Yes he is! Show her!" he huffed, turning to Jojo.

"…actually, Rachel's pretty much right. So…yeah," she sighed.

Hood was still going off about how his hair was perfectly normal and that guy's could wear pink, too. Darby was attempting to stare down Robin (to no avail; she flinched and turned away). Rachel looked smugly superior to Adam, while he looked at Jojo as though she was stupid.

"You're an idiot," he said, nodding. With that he took a step forward, so that he was closest to Zero and said, "Err, Slowpoke?"

"Zero," Jojo added quietly.

"Zero! Use Yawn on Electabuzz!"

"Thunderpunch!" Hood roared viciously. The bipedal Pokémon rushed forward, and was just about to hit, when the Mareep quickly rammed it away.

"Oh," Rachel said, cocking her head. "Good job, Glitter. How'd you learn to do that?"

The pink Pokémon slowly stood up and directed itself towards the Electabuzz. With rather drawn-out motions, he stared directly into its eyes. He opened his mouth wide…

…and then closed it.

"Umm, yawn. Literally," Rachel laughed, rolling her eyes.

"No, wait. Look!" Darby exclaimed, staring at the Electric-type. It was slowly swaying on the spot, and its eyes were beginning to lose focus.

"Toxic, Tangela!" Robin yelled while they were distracted. Glitter cringed as acid was thrown directly at her; she staggered for a moment while Electabuzz fell down, fast asleep, next to her.

"Now, Zero, use Confusion on both of them!" Adam cried victoriously. Jojo pondered over Zero's unquestioning obedience to him; weren't Pokémon only supposed to listen to their trainers? She crossed her arms, obviously unhappy at being shown up by him.

In the meantime, Tangela was squealing in pain, while Electabuzz looked as though it was having a very bad nightmare.

"Return, Tangela," Robin growled viciously, glaring furiously at the four children.

Adam muttered something to Darby, who nodded and turned to Rachel. Rachel stared at the two of them like they were stupid, before rolling her eyes and turning to face Jojo. "We're going to push through them and jump down into the well, apparently," Rachel whispered, before snapping back to the battle. "ThunderShock, Glitter!" she yelled again as Jojo mirrored the look Rachel had given the other two ten-year-olds.

As she attempted a weak electrical shock, Darby and Adam rushed through the makeshift battlefield and pushed Robin out of the way. Adam jumped straight down into the Well, while Darby opted for the ladder. Jojo and Rachel looked at each other, incredulous and worried. "Let's go!" Jojo said quickly, and they recalled the two Pokémon left over and bolted towards the direction Adam and Darby had gone. They grabbed each other's wrists and jumped at the same time, screeching on the way down.

It was dark and damp down in the well, with puddles of water creeping up onto the stone pathway. Darby and Adam were a little way ahead of them, and the two started running to catch up.

"Not so fast!" a grunt said with a laugh, stepping in front of them. "Hoothoot, let's go!"

Robin and Hood jumped down the ladder behind them, leaving the two no escape route Although Jojo began to panic, she soon realized there was no need. "Peck!" the grunt yelled. "C'mon, please?"

The ball-shaped owl batted his eyes and slowly, delicately ruffled his feathers. He made no effort to move; he simply stared at his trainer. The look on his face was obvious; it clearly said that _this_ Hoothoot wasn't going to move for _him_.

Jojo smiled; it was as though this little one was their ally, or something like that. "Aww," she cooed, stepping forward and bending down to the brown Pokémon. "Hi! I'm Jojo!" She cautiously pet the top of his head; he froze for a moment and stared viciously at her. She flinched the slightest bit, but continued stroking him.

Rachel giggled a little, and Jojo tried very hard to keep from laughing along with her, although she couldn't figure out what was funny. Eventually, the Hoothoot gave a low hoot of content and leaned in to her every stroke. "See?" she giggled, smiling at him. "You're not so bad."

"How'd you do that?" the grunt whined enviously. "He never listens to me!"

"Good, then you won't miss him that much," Jojo snapped at the Rocket, picking the seemingly one-legged Pokémon up in her arms. "I'm keeping him!" she said firmly, and the three Team Rocket members only stared. "You don't deserve him, you stupid bad guy! Giovanni's dead, in case you haven't checked! I don't know what you're up to, but you won't be able to do much without a leader, now, will you?"

Robin twitched and moved slowly in front of the two girls with Hood following at her heels; Rachel and Jojo clutched onto each other as Robin stared at them, her face dangerously blank. "What did you say?"

Jojo froze; she really didn't know what she'd said. The only information she really had about Team Rocket was from Kyra, so she shook her head embarrassedly and hid her face in her new Hoothoot.

The green-haired woman walked very close to Jojo and bent down to stare her in the face. "Listen carefully, you stupid brat. You have no idea who you're dealing with, do you? Team Rocket is back and stronger than ever. Giovanni is only _presumed_ to be dead. No one has ever found his body. There is no proof. People assume that he's dead because he hasn't shown his face in fifteen years." She stood and looked into the distance. "I was eighteen when I heard those words. I heard them on the T.V. and I will never ever forget them. '_I'm gone for now, but I promise you, Domino, that I'll be back. Keep them alive. Do not forget what we have discussed. I will be back._'"

Jojo vaguely remembered sitting with her father on the couch while he watched a documentary on Team Rocket and she slipped in and out of sleep. He had left a tape of those final words to Domino, his most trusted admin, which had been taken from her apartment after her arrest six years ago.

Robin snarled and glared so ferociously that Jojo whimpered and took three steps backwards until she fell down. She cuddled the Pokémon in her arms tighter until he finally had to peck her to keep from suffocating. "Don't expect me to forget you. You'll regret this. Don't you _ever_ talk about Giovanni like that again."

Jojo nodded obediently, and Robin and Hood stood up to leave. There was another bang and a cloud of smoke appeared; when it cleared, they were gone.

"Jojo," Rachel said in a reprimanding tone.

"What?" she whined back, but she already knew; she had crossed the line, and it was too late to turn back.

"Confusion!" They heard Adam yell, and the multiple Slowpoke in the well began to glow blue; suddenly, the Team Rocket members all began clutching their heads and screaming, and they made a mad dash for the ladder. Jojo and Rachel quickly stepped out of their way into a small crevice where they saw Kurt lying in pain.

"Told you I didn't need you!" Adam laughed as he ran up next to them. "That was easy, wasn't it, Fanto?" The two girls looked at his feet, where a Phanpy gave a happy little cry.

"Wait, you had a Phanpy that entire battle before and you didn't tell us!" Jojo shrieked, making the other three wince.

He shrugged; "Sorry" and walked over the Kurt and bent down to pull him up. He staggered under the older man's weight and Darby rushed over to help him. With some effort, they got him over to the ladder, where Kurt thanked them profusely and told them he could manage from there. He climbed up and out, and the four children followed him quickly.

Up at the top, he had fallen down again and was struggling to get up. Adam and Darby, both of which were much stronger than the other two, once again got him on his feet and decided it was best to accompany him to his house.

The walk wasn't that long, but it certainly tired out Darby and Adam (Rachel and Jojo had skipped and giggled the entire way). When Kurt was safely inside and sitting down, he smiled and once again thanked them. "I'm Kurt," he said to them, rubbing his back while Rachel got him some ice in the kitchen. "Now, I assume you'll be wanting some Poké Balls after all that?" he laughed good-naturedly, and looked expectantly at them.

"What?" Jojo asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Kurt's a Poké Ball smith," Adam explained. "He takes Apricorns and turns them into balls."

"That's right, Adam," he said, nodding. "And since you went through all that for me, I'm happy to make one for each of you. Free of charge!" he added. "Of course, I'll need you to get some Apricorns yourself…"

"That's alright, Kurt, I'll take them," Adam volunteered.

"Great!" he replied. "You know what to do!"

* * *

"I hate you," Rachel grumbled as she pulled another twig from her hair.

"Stop whining," Darby reprimanded, as she searched through the numerous trees and bushes.

Adam stepped through some of the ones to the right, and returned a few moments later holding a black berry in his hands. "This is an Apricorn," he smiled, showing it to them. "There's tons of different colors, and they're super bright, so they're easy to see. There's a bunch up ahead, I think."

Sure enough, a few moments later, they came across a clearing that held many different bushes with one berry on each. Immediately, the three girls rushed forward and began choosing who would get which.

"I saw the pink one first!" Jojo screeched at Rachel as she attempted to push her out of the way.

"But I got it first!" Rachel countered. She immediately plucked it from the branch and sped behind Adam, so Jojo couldn't hurt her. The blonde pouted, obviously upset. Snarling, she grabbed the nearest one – a green berry – and stomped over next to Rachel and Adam to signal she was ready to leave. Darby quickly snagged a blue one and hurried over to them.

The walk back probably would have been shorter if Rachel hadn't insisted on turning right when they should have gone straight, but nevertheless, they made it back. The four children eagerly gave the berries to Kurt, who shooed them away and told them that it would take four days to finish all of them.

"Four days?" Jojo whined when she found out. "But that's so lon-"

"Thank you," Darby interrupted, cutting her off. "We'll see you then!"

* * *

**A/N; :B I had no idea how to end this chapter, so don't kill me because it sucks in the first place.**

**Not much to say, really. I mean, there's not anything. Well, we meet two of her Olivine friends plus a new one that I don't think I've mentioned anywhere. Adam's been in my mind for a while but I've kept him a secret because there was no need for anyone to really know about him. Plus, having a secret made me feel special. :3 We also meet Robin and Hood and find out some more about Team Rocket. Important~**

**One of the characters we met in this chapter is Main Character #2. If you guess correctly, you win a prize~! Actually, you just get the next chapter dedicated to you, but…*shrugs***

**Robin belongs to Jeanne Revuer**

**Hood belongs to Dobblazar**

**The main Team Rocket duo has arrived! I asked specially to use them, because they're just so badass. :3 We'll be seeing a lot of them~**

**I feel like this chapter was crap, probably 'cause was mainly filler, but there were actually a few important things in here. **

**Some new OCs coming in the next two chapters – I know at least four right now – so keep your eyes peeled~!**

**xoxo  
Irene**


	5. Chapter 5

This _super special_ chapter is dedicated to Jeanne for being the only one to correctly guess Jojo's traveling partner. I think we should all give her high fives. :)

* * *

Apparently, you were supposed to let your Pokémon rest for a full day after each intense battle.

Of course, everyone seemed to decide that not telling Jojo this was a good idea, so when sparring with Darby, it was a complete surprise that Rocket simply blacked out in the middle of the battle. She was reprimanded severely for this by Adam, who had decided to stick around with them until after Jojo's battle with Bugsy.

"Healing at a Pokémon Center refreshes your Pokémon's health but not their stamina," he explained exasperatedly to the scowling girl. "You shouldn't push them through more than one full battle a day, even when they're fully trained. They'll be able to battle harder once they're trained, but they still shouldn't go until at least a day after they fainted."

Although she understood, she replied with her classic, "That's stupid."

Even after a day and a half with her, he had already picked up on her mood swings and temper, and had decided it was better to just not disagree with her…ever. "Well, you should probably wait until the end of the week to battle Bugsy, anyway."

She glowered at him. Then she screamed. Then she looked very close to punching him. However, she knew he was right and taking her anger out on him wouldn't change the fact, which sucked for both Jojo and the others – Jojo because she would have to wait to battle, and the three because they had to suffer with her impatience.

As such, she redirected her energy to training her Pokémon, who were put through such rigorous exercises that her three friends started to worry about their health. Jojo, however, had no such concerns; the harder they trained, the more stamina they'd get…right?

So Zero and Rocket, plus the addition of Turn the Hoothoot, were worked to the bone as they battled the other three's Pokémon as well as any unlucky wild Pokémon that happened their way. Adam, who had grown up worshipping Slowpoke, apparently knew them inside and out, and couldn't help himself at correct Jojo each time she attempted training him. Although his methods usually worked better, she still _hated _being shown up by anyone.

When she told Darby and Adam the story of how she flat out stole a Hoothoot from a _Team Rocket member_, she was shrieked at and appraised carefully, then asked again (because oh-that-reminded-him) exactly where she caught a Slowpoke, but was saved this time by Rocket; he had taking a strong disliking of Adam, or apparently boys in general. He had bitten a total of three other random trainers, all of which were male. It was now becoming normal for the Growlithe to sink his teeth into Adam whenever possible. It appeared his right leg was much tastier.

Four days into their training, the children went back to Kurt's house, where he presented them with custom made Poké Balls. Jojo's green Apricorn had been made into a Friend Ball, which, she was informed, would make the Pokémon inside friendlier towards her. Though she still pouted enviously over Rachel's Love Ball, she accepted the gift graciously.

So as the week came to a close, Jojo's three Pokémon were tired but much stronger (she was then told that perhaps another day with _absolutely no training_ would be good for them). Though Adam was hit repeatedly on the head, Jojo's Pokémon were very grateful to him as they took their day off. After waiting impatiently, she set off to Bugsy's gym immediately after breakfast, with Rachel, Adam, and Darby trailing sleepily behind.

Jojo pushed open the heavy door with bright eyes and eagerness practically glowing off of her. "Hurry up!" she snapped at her friends, but it was said with a chipper tone and a wide smile on her face. She stepped into the large building and suddenly froze.

The room was spacious and humid, with trees appearing to be the walls and grass as a carpet. It was as though someone had built a forest inside the building; however, this wasn't what made her stop.

There were bugs. _Bugs._

There were bugs crawling on top of the tree limbs, scuttling across the floor, hanging down from the ceiling. There were bugs _everywhere_.

She hated bugs.

She screamed.

"Wait, you're kidding, right?" Adam laughed when she explained it to him. "You didn't know Bugsy trained bugs? _Bug_sy? Really? C'mon, Jojo, even _you're_ not that stupid."

After bonking him on top of the head, she whirled back to face the center of the gym, crossing her arms. A few moments later, a small child with purple hair swung down from one of the trees, a Spinarak situated on his right shoulder. "Hi, Adam!" he said brightly. At least, Jojo assumed it was a he; it was a bit hard to tell.

"Hey, Bugsy!" Adam grinned back. It was obvious the two knew each other. Then again, they both appeared about the same age, so it really only made sense. She repressed a shudder at the sight of the spider-like Pokémon, and forced herself to grin. "Hi," she said, her smile feeling a teensy bit false. "I'm Jojo, and I'm here to battle you!"

"A battle? Sure! But do you really think you'll be able to bea-?" he said, a sly grin forming on his face.

"Yes, I do!" Jojo said quickly, cutting him off. She frowned a little as she noticed the similarity between him and Adam. Apparently, cockiness was an Azalea thing.

Ignoring the hypocrisy in her statement, she faced him squarely and prepared to take him on despite the fact her eyes kept flickering towards the disgusting Pokémon on his shoulder.

As though out of no where – although it was just Jojo not noticing him – the referee stepped forward and she handed him her PokéGear with a beaming smile; it proudly held the small wing-shaped badge from Falkner. He quickly checked over her Trainer Card and handed it back to her before walking over to the stand. It was then that Jojo noticed the white lines indicating an official field painted onto the grass.

"The battle between Joanna Jones of Olivine City and Azalea Leader Bugsy is about to begin. The battle will be three-on-three with no substitutes for the leader." The referee lifted the red and green flags above his head. "You may begin!" He let his arms fall in one smooth motion, and Jojo felt a rush of excitement.

Her stomach clenched instinctively, and she reached automatically for the ball within her bag. It felt comfortable and natural; there was no hint of nervousness or stage fright. There was no fear of losing in her eyes. All she knew was that she was about to battle and, more importantly, that she was about to win.

And cockiness was only an Azalea thing.

Right.

"Let's go, Spinarak!" Bugsy laughed, and the green spider scuttled down from his spot on the trainer's shoulder as Jojo winced.

She grinned back and began with a confident, "Showtime, Roc-!"

"No!" Adam cut her off quickly.

"_What_?" she huffed, turning around to glare at him. "Could you _not_ interr-?"

"Start with your weakest first," he instructed, speaking over her again. "Spinarak is one of his strongest, so if it knocks out Rocket, you're done for."

Crossing her arms, she narrowed her eyes and snapped, "I think I can handle it!" She turned around, her hair flaying out behind her as it nearly whacked his face.

"Yeah, leave her alone!" Darby spoke up in Jojo's defense.

"Yeah!" Rachel echoed.

Despite their encouragement, she worked out the possible scenario that Rocket did get knocked put by that disgusting spider. Although highly unlikely, she scrunched her nose and solemnly replaced the ball in her bag. Drawing herself back up, she enlarged the new Poké Ball in her hand. "Alright, Turn. Showtime!"

The freshly stolen Hoothoot materialized with a flash of red light and hooted dolefully; she had learned rather quickly over the past few days that Turn hated daylight as much as she hated bugs.

Turn was a funny kind of Pokémon; he was moody but peppy at the same time, which made little to no sense but happened anyway. His name was given from his habit of hopping up on his one foot and doing a complete turn in the air while wildly flapping his non-existent wings. He was rather affectionate and liked cuddling with anyone and everyone, but Rachel, oddly enough, seemed to be his favorite.

"Start things up with a String Shot!" Bugsy called, and the little green Pokémon released a sticky web directed at Turn.

"Jump and dodge it, then move in for Peck!" Jojo countered smugly.

The Hoothoot balanced itself perfectly on one foot, then sprang into the air just before the white web hit, completing the move with a quick 360 turn. He landed for only a moment before pushing off again and launching himself at the Pokémon, his beak glowing white as it made contact.

"Yeah!" Jojo cheered happily.

"Night Shade!" Bugsy yelled back, and his Spinarak faced Turn squarely, staring directly into his large red eyes.

Flailing, Jojo scrambled for her Pokédex and quickly faced it at the Spinarak; she had _no _idea what that move did.

"Don't worry, Jojo. Turn will be fine," Adam said matter-of-factly, but she continued to press the buttons quickly.

"_Night Shade is a damage-dealing Ghost-Type move_," the robotic female voice droned. "_Direct eye contact is required for Night Shade to perform properly_. _Its power doubles against Ghost- and Psychic-Types, is halved against Dark- and Steel-Types, and has no effect on Normal types_."

"See? Turn's a Normal-Type. It won't even hurt him," Adam smirked.

Jojo watched as Spinarak's eyes began to glow ruby red as it almost hypnotized Turn into staring back. The small white horn on its head looked as though it started to tint black, but fizzled out suddenly.

Jojo sighed with relief; that could have been close. While Bugsy frowned, she laughed gloatingly, calling out, "Gust!"

Turn leapt into the air and flapped his nonexistent wings as fast as he possibly could, spinning around easily. Within a few seconds, a small tornado had appeared; he threw himself out of it and swiped at it once with one of his arms, and it was sent flying towards the small green Pokémon. With a squealing screech, it was blasted high into the air and then fell, defeated.

"Spinarak is unable to battle! This round goes to Jojo!"

Bugsy said nothing and recalled his Pokémon, obviously thinking hard.

"I thought you said Spinarak was his strongest Pokémon!" Jojo giggled to Adam, not even bothering to keep quiet.

Adam smiled at Jojo and laughed. "It's_ one_ of his strongest, not his _actual _strongest. Bugsy's got nearly every Bug-Type in existence. He always starts with Spinarak to gauge his opponent's skill level."

Crossing her arms, she huffed, "You could have _told_ me tha-"

"Get back to the battle!" Adam interrupted anxiously, and the blonde whipped around hurriedly.

Within her conversation with Adam, Bugsy had released a Pokémon she'd never seen before. Scrunching her nose, she pulled her Pokédex back out of her bag and pointed it at the navy colored bug. "_Heracross, the Single Horn Pokémon. With its Herculean powers, it can easily throw around an object that is 100 times its own weight. Heracross's moves are Night Slash, Tackle, Horn Attack, Endure, Fury Attack, and Aerial Ace._"

"What?" she screeched, looking incredulously down at the pink device. "How does it know so many moves?"

"There's no limit to the amount of moves a Pokémon can learn," Adam said, frowning as though she should have known this.

"Well, sorr-"

"Make a move _now_!" Adam insisted, looking crazed.

"Stop _interrupting_ me!" she yelled back, placing her hands on her hips. However, she whirled herself around a moment later and said, "Hypnosis, Turn, then follow up with Peck!"

Bugsy, who had been waiting patiently for her to calm down, said, "Counter with Night Slash!"

With a blinding speed, the Heracross avoided the sleep-inducing rays and struck the owl with darkened claws, effectively knocking it out; Rachel and Darby booed on the sidelines.

"Hoothoot is unable to battle. The second round belongs to Bugsy!"

"Told you," Adam muttered smugly as she recalled him.

Snarling, she ignored him and enlarged another Poké Ball. "Let's go, Rock-"

"_No_!" the boy snapped, rolling his blue eyes in exasperation. "Use Zero!"

"Why!" she whined back.

"Trust me!"

With an exaggerated huff (and particularly long glare), she then pulled out a third ball and released the pink Pokémon from it.

"Hey, where'd you get a Slowpoke?" Bugsy asked, glaring at her like she was some kind of criminal. "You can't capture anywhere but here in Johto, and it's illegal here! Slowpoke aren't to be used as anything but friends!"

"Yeah, where _did _you get him?" Adam asked.

She froze, her heart pounding as she struggled to think of an adequate response. Unable to come up with one, however, she opted for, "Confusion!"

"Just leave her alone!" Rachel huffed to Adam while Bugsy instructed his Heracross to use Night Slash. "She doesn't have to answer to _you_!" With a nasty look, she dared him to contradict her.

He opened his mouth to – he wasn't one to take Rachel's attitude lying down – but Jojo's use of Water Gun made him cry out again. "No! Keep using Confusion! Heracross is part Fighting, so it'll be super-effec-"

"_Stop telling me what to do!_" Jojo screamed. "I can do it myself!"

"Fine! I won't help you anymore!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"Good!"

"Good!"

"Both of you, shut _up_," Rachel snapped, rolling her eyes.

"Alright, Zero, keep using Confusion until Heracross faints!" Jojo finally commanded her Pokémon, returning to the battle.

"In that case, keep using Night Slash, Heracross! Give him as much damage as you can!"

It was an all-out struggle between the two Pokémon. Heracross was fighting off the effects of the mind attack while Zero was doing his very best to keep him from escaping it. He stood stock still as he endured blow after blow from the Bug-type.

"Now, Zero, give him your absolute best!" Jojo urged as she felt the Dopey Pokémon's endurance fading.

"Don't-" Adam began, but silenced himself before the blonde had enough time to turn around and scream at him again.

_Boom!_

An unexpected blast of smoke followed these instructions, and the humans coughed and attempted clearing the smoke to see what had happened.

Lying unconscious was the pink blob-like Pokémon.

"What?" Jojo yelled, looking teary-eyed.

"Slowpoke is unable to battle! This round belongs to Bugsy!"

"You shouldn't have done that!" Adam exclaimed, unable to contain himself any longer.

"How was I supposed to know that would happen?" Jojo shouted back, glaring as she recalled her Pokémon.

"If you had let me talk, I could have told you that!"

"Oh, really?" Jojo snorted skeptically. "Then what just happened?"

"When made powerful enough, Confusion rays can become tangible! When Heracross's Night Slash hit it, it rebounded and exploded against Zero! Ha!" he yelled triumphantly.

Jojo stared at him like he was crazy. "What? I don't even know what '_tangible'_ means!" she huffed, air-quoting "tangible".

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's not possible," Darby supplied, looking confused.

"Can we please just finish this battle?" Bugsy sighed, obviously impatient with the young challenger.

"Whatever," Jojo snarled, releasing her last Pokémon from his ball.

"Growl!" Rocket yapped, attempting to appear intimidating; however, his big, puppy-dog eyes and excitedly wagging tail weren't helping him.

"His Heracross is already weak, Rocket," Jojo instructed nonchalantly; she was still staring down Adam. "Ember him until he's out!"

Jojo was right; although the Bug and Fighting type attempted to dodge, the fire attack hit him continuously.

"Deflect it back!" Bugsy urged, but by that time, it was clear it was too late. With a pathetic flap of his wings, the dark blue Pokémon fainted.

"_Heracross is unable to battle_!"

There was a bit of ringing in her ears as Rachel and Darby cheered on the sides; even Adam couldn't suppress a small grin for his new friend.

They were both down to their last Pokémon, and Bugsy pulled out a third Poké Ball with a touch of resentment. This girl obviously didn't know how to battle, but with Adam's help and her Pokémon's natural strength, she was placing him in a bit of a corner. However, as he sized up the puny Growlithe, he figured he didn't have much to worry about.

"Let's go, Scyther!"

Jojo winced. A Scyther? Those things were huge…and disgusting. "How come you can't choose, umm…more attractive Pokémon?" she questioned, placing her hands on her nonhips.

"Are you kidding me?" Bugsy shouted back, looking incredulous. "Bug Pokémon are the absolute best! They're stronger than any Pokémon you could possibly raise, and you can't even begin to tell me Dustox aren't the most beautiful thing you've ever seen! Plus-

"

"Umm, you know what? Never mind," Jojo said hastily, looking rather taken aback. "Alright, Rocket, only one more Pokémon!" she encouraged with the enthusiasm of a new trainer. "We've got the advantage; let's do this!"

"Wait, Jojo-" Adam began. She spun around once again, glaring daggers.

"Look," she hissed in a low voice. "I don't think you realize who I am, do you? Have you ever heard of Jackie Tanger?"

Adam's brow knit together as her processed the name. He'd definitely heard of her before, but couldn't place it – and besides, what did this have to do with the battle? "Wasn't she-"

"I hate to interrupt," Bugsy interjected, looking annoyed at the constant interruptions, "but this is a conversation that can continue later, right…?"

Jojo looked over her shoulder to look angrily at Bugsy, who flinched just the slightest. "Whatever," she snapped, facing Adam again. "Just shut up while I battle, okay?"

Without waiting for an answer, she whipped back to the battle, her hair smacking Adam in the face. "Ember, Rocket!"

Needing no more prompting, the red dog immediately unleashed a stream of fire from his mouth.

"Swords Dance, Scyther!" Bugsy shouted in reply, and Jojo rolled her eyes. She'd heard that he was supposed to be good; didn't he know Swords Dance didn't hurt the opponent?

She watched confidently as the stream of fire shot towards the oversized bug, relaxing a bit. With Rocket out on the field, this one was hers.

It only took a split second for everything to change.

"_What_?" Adam was seriously considering earplugs now; another outburst from Jojo and his ears would probably start bleeding.

"Scyther can deflect Fire attacks with Swords Dance," Adam murmured in a vicious tone. Jojo didn't bother to face him.

"So…Ember is useless?" she said in a tone that sounded like she was about to cry.

"Yeah, it is!" Bugsy laughed, finally glad to have something to brag about. "I _told_ you to think twice about challenging me!"

Jojo snarled viciously; _that_ had done it. "I don't care _how_ good your overgrown mosquito is at ballet! The Hive Badge will be _mine_!"

Her brown eyes locked firmly onto Bugsy's; he flinched again and took a half step back before moving closer. "Yeah right!" he shot back. "I could beat you with my eyes closed!"

Not to be outdone, Jojo shouted, "I could beat you with my eyes closed _and_ my mouth taped shut!"

"I would _love_ that," Adam said under his breath.

Ignoring him again, Jojo looked at Rocket meaningfully; the small red hound nodded confidently. She had watched hundreds, maybe even thousands, of battles on TV. From no-name leagues to the Silver Conference itself; from Gym battles to even _the_ battle between Ash Ketchum and Lance Wataru, the former Kanto-Johto Champion. She knew that when faced with an unknown strategy, many trainers did what trainers did best – improvise.

"Alright, Rocket, are you ready?" She looked around the Gym; it was like an indoor jungle. "I want you to circle Scyther and keep using Ember, but don't let it hit you!"

With a bark, the Puppy Pokémon bolted right and unleashed another stream of flames at the Bug-type.

"You know what to do, Scyther!" Bugsy shouted back, laughing at the little blonde.

As the fire drew in close to the Mantis Pokémon, it began to pirouette again, reflecting it to where the Growlithe would have been, had it not been moving too fast. Instead it continued to stream farther down the field, where it made contact with the grassy flooring of the Gym. With a _whoosh_, it began to blaze steadily.

Jojo smiled. "You know, just because your Pokémon is fireproof doesn't mean your Gym is!" With a barking laugh, she realized that sounded much better in her head.

Bugsy's eyes widened in a panic. "You'll burn down the Gym if you keep it up! Make your Growlithe stop!" he commanded.

The blonde shrugged nonchalantly. "No can do," she said with an indifferent smirk. The leader looked crazed. "You could always make Scyther stop, though," she suggested innocently.

By this time, Rocket had circled his opponent multiple times; the blaze was nearly covering the entire battle floor and was quickly spreading closer to both Bugsy and Jojo. With a little whimper, the blonde took a step back in her box.

"Ninjask! Skorupi! Shedinja!" Bugsy released multiple of each Pokémon from his belt. "Sand Attack!"

The Bug-types set to work quickly, throwing dirt on top of the flames to put them out. Within just seconds, in was contained to a small area.

"_Hey_!" Jojo yelled, her voice cracking as it began to grow hoarse. "That's _cheating_! You can't do that!"

"I forfeit," Bugsy sighed, taking out a Poké Ball and recalling Scyther.

"You…quit?" Jojo breathed, her eyes lighting up.

He nodded sadly, looking down a little. "That was pretty smart," he allowed, and Jojo beamed.

"Thanks!" she said with a chirp, but didn't move to retrieve her badge; the Pokémon were still putting out the last wisps of smoke.

"But," he mused for a moment, grinning. "Why didn't you just send an Ember at the trees or something? Why directly at Scyther?"

Jojo blinked; she really hadn't thought of that. With a small smirk, however, she replied, "It looked cooler."

* * *

At the Pokémon Center, the foursome watched carefully as Jojo snapped the Hive Badge into her Badge Case. She stared happily at it for a second; _two_ badges in less than a month! "Alright! Ilex Forest, here we come!" At this, she stood up, but no one followed her lead.

She huffed and crossed her arms, sitting firmly back down. "Let's try this again. Ilex Forest, here we _come_!"

"Jojo, we already _came_ from the Ilex Forest," Rachel said, looking at her friend with a mixture of sadness and pity.

"Yeah, we're going towards Violet City," Darby added.

"Plus, you need to let your Pokémon re-"

"Shut up!" she snapped at Adam, cutting him off. "But…I wanted to travel with you guys!" Jojo pouted, looking teary-eyed at them. "I hated traveling alone! Did I tell you the story about this hiker I met? Or what about this other girl, Kira – no, Kyra – and Izzy?"

"Sorry, Jojo," Darby said, looking down.

"Maybe you could travel with Adam!" Rachel said brightly.

Jojo glared at her.

"Yeah, that's a great idea!" Darby continued, looking cheered up.

"How 'bout it, Jojo?" Adam asked.

Jojo stared into his eyes, contemplating this decision carefully. She always imagined her traveling partner to either be one of her best friends, or a trainer that was polite, caring, and willing to risk his life for her. Adam was arrogant, rude, and in need of a good punch to the face.

"Sure," she muttered. "Why not? What could possibly go wrong?"

"What'd you say?" Adam asked.

"Yeah!" she cheered with false enthusiasm. "We're traveling partners from now on!"

With an approval smile on everyone's face, Jojo stood up again. "Alright! Ilex Forest, here we come!"

"No!" Adam said, standing up to face her. "Let your Pokémon rest!"

Placing her hands on her hips, Jojo looked deeper into his blue eyes. "I _hate_ you."

* * *

"I _miss_ them."

"Stop whining!"

"I want to travel with _them_, not you!"

"Then why didn't you go with them, huh?" Adam snapped, annoyed with Jojo's apparent need to get on his last nerve.

"Because_ this_ is the way get to Goldenrod City, and Jojo needs to get to Goldenrod City to win the Plain Badge," she said in a tone that implied stupidity.

"If you two want to be escorted, I'm _not_ going to put up with that," a third voice chimed in, and the ten-year-olds suddenly stood at attention. "Much better!" The woman grinned at the duo, holding out a polite hand. "You two can call me Charlie." A Granbull by her side growled in introduction.

Eagerly, Jojo took her hand and shook it. "I'm Jojo!" she chirped back.

"Adam," the boy said, shaking her hand as well. "You escort people through the Ilex Forest?"

Charlie nodded. "It's very dangerous in there. You two lookin' to get through?"

"Is there any other way to get to Goldenrod?" Jojo asked curiously.

"Yeah, if you go back up to Violet and cut through by the National Park," Charlie said. "But you'd have to backtrack quite a bit if you wanted to do that. It'd cut far into your traveling time."

"Wait, _Violet_?" Jojo said, crossing her arms. Charlie nodded. "So, you mean, if I had two friends going towards Violet, then I could've gone with them and then went to Goldenrod?"

"Yeah, you could've."

It took nearly ten minutes to calm down the raging girl, and when they finally did, she was still incredibly angry and refused to talk any more.

"Alright, if you two want to go through, I'll take you. But you need to know – it'll take about three days, and'll cost you about £5000."

Adam and Jojo counted up their money to spilt the cost as Charlie continued to instruct them on standard procedures. "You'll need to have one Pokémon out with you at all times, preferably a Fire or Flying type. Capturing wild Pokémon is inadvisable for trainers with less than four badges, because they're know to get pretty aggressive."

"More aggressive than the Growlithe pack near Violet?" Jojo asked innocently, fingering the nearly healed burn on her wrist.

"Oh, believe me, they're much worse," Charlie established, and the blonde pouted a little. "You two ready, than?" As she received confirmation nods, she grinned. "Pick a Pokémon, then, and let's go!"

Rocket and Combat came out of their Poké Balls with little cheers. The Growlithe sniffed the air carefully, locked onto Adam, and promptly bit his leg.

"Rocket!" Jojo reprimanded with her hands on her hips, but found it hard to stifle her giggles as she picked the Puppy Pokémon up in her arms. Rocket licked her face in apology and wagged his tail happily.

"Yeah, maybe you should've gone with Rachel and Darby," Adam said angrily; Jojo rolled her eyes and walked ahead of him to fall in step with Charlie.

"Just be glad you get to travel with a future Pokémon master."

* * *

**AN; I actually wanted to add a whole other section to this chapter, but it was dragging on and getting rather long and I get bored pretty easily, so I cut it short. You can probably see the areas where I was like LOLNO and just gave up. I don't really know how to fix it, so…**

**Umm, congratulations to Jeanne once again for guessing correctly~! Yay, Adam! It looks like he and Jojo are getting off to a good start, huh?**

**So, everyone's _favorite_ heroine gets her second badge, a traveling partner, and an ego boost. Awesome, amirite? :D**

**Charlie belongs to MineralRabbit.**

**Ooh, another OC~! I really like Charlie, but I'm not sure how well I did on her. She's fun, and will be important both next chapter and later on OHSHI- that's a spoiler, people~! ;D**

**Teehee, 'til next time!**

**xoxo  
Irene**


	6. Chapter 6

So this was her?

The girl whose footsteps he was following, both figuratively and literally, was this scrawny little blonde?

He couldn't understand it, couldn't figure it out. He had been beaten to the punch by a fifty pound girl with a ridiculous ten pound bow on top of her head.

He watched her silently as she walked hanging onto the older one's every word, her eyes glowing in admiration as she was regaled with stories of the trainer's past experiences. He snorted scornfully. Like this ginger-haired escort had better stories than he had to tell about this forest…if he had someone other than the Chikorita sitting in the Poké Ball strapped to his waist to tell them to.

From what he could determine, the girl had acted on an impulse when she snuck into Professor Elm's lab, almost ruining everything he had been planning for. Had the alarm not been set off, had Elm not known right away something was stolen, had the blame not immediately pinned on her, his plan would've failed. Security was not tightened; once she left, the only difference seemed to be that there was one less Pokémon for him to possibly claim. He smirked the littlest bit as the threesome trudged on farther through the forest. She was no threat to him, she was nothing but an overenthusiastic young trainer, like so many ten-year-olds were.

He stiffened as they walked by the bushes he was in. Sure, he was deep in the bushes – there was still at least ten feet between them – but something about the fact that he was stalking her and that this was as close as they had ever been made him freeze up.

Stalking her?

No, he wasn't stalking her, he decided, but the thought that it could be interpreted that way made him frown. He was not _stalking_ her…he was simply researching his competition. He'd yet to meet someone his age that had ever come close to being on par with him, on any matter. Never had someone his age beaten him in a battle, never had they been able to pull off a stunt like robbing Professor Elm's laboratory, never had they beaten him to the prize, never had he _lost_ before.

It infuriated him, the way this little girl that was nothing more than skin, bones, and a huge ego had emerged victorious over him, no matter how indirectly._ He_ was the best, not her!

As the trio and their Pokémon moved farther away, he noticed her Growlithe sniffing at the bushes, probably picking up on his scent. He froze again, fear of discovery paralyzing him.

The Puppy Pokémon lifted his head and barked happily, his tail wagging quickly as he turned to face his trainer, who was nearly out of sight. He barked again, and she turned around, looking confused.

"Rocket!" she said in a scolding voice, and she sprinted to him as her comrades paused. "You have to keep up!" she said, frowning at the Fire-type. She reached down to pick him up, and cradled him lovingly in her arms. She looked around shiftily, and, making sure the other two couldn't hear her, she leaned in close to his ear and whispered, "I think Ursaring live in this forest!"

The Growlithe licked her face comfortingly, then faced the bushes again and barked, jolting him into paralysis again. "Stop it!" she snapped, though she scratched his ears as she said it. "Leave whatever's in there alone!" She pursed her lips and looked him dead in the eyes, and he looked down in submission. "C'mon, they're waiting for us," she said happily as she placed him onto the ground again, and they sprinted off to catch up with the rest of the group.

He relaxed as they walked out of sight, before snorting at the girl. Scared of Ursaring? And the pathetic girl wanted to be some hotshot trainer, didn't she? He rolled his eyes before standing up, making sure they were definitely gone now. He stretched as he considered training all of his two Pokémon…but was it really necessary?

After all, his only rival was a girl who thought gigantic bows were attractive.

* * *

"Entertain me," Jojo snapped, crossing her arms.

"What? No!" Adam shouted back.

"But I'm _bored_," she whined, pouting.

"What did I say about that?" Charlie called over her shoulder. Both children immediately looked down, although they continued to glare out of the corners of their eyes. "Pay attention and make sure your Pokémon are ready," she instructed. "There's an Ursaring that lives around here."

"What?" Jojo shrieked. "An _Ursaring_?"

"Yep," Charlie nodded calmly. "Relax, they won't attack unless they feel threatened. Just stay alert."

Jojo cocked her head as she caught up with her. "How come you know so much about Pokémon…and this forest?"

Charlie smiled warmly at the little trainer. "When I started out, I didn't really like battling that much, but I loved Pokémon and I loved to travel." Jojo frowned; was it _possible_ to not like battling? "I really just went wherever I felt like. I never had to rush to make the time limit for gathering badges. It was really nice."

"I don't have to worry about meeting the time limit for badges either!" Jojo grinned, interrupting Charlie. "In fact, I'll probably be one of the first ones to collect them all!"

"Oh, really?" Adam challenged.

"Yeah, really!" Jojo shot back.

"Shh," Charlie said quietly, holding her finger to her lips. "We're in the Ursaring's territory now." Instantly, they hushed, looking worried. "Anyway," Charlie continued in a calming tone, "while I travelled, I learned by observation. When you're not focused on battling or training, you have more time to take everything in."

Jojo and Adam listened to her relaxing voice as they trudged through the astoundingly long forest, following her footsteps without question. They had both decided they liked Charlie, she was nice and, though her Granbull was very intimidating, they felt safe with her. She seemed to know the forest like the back of her hand; she was hardly paying attention to where they were going now.

"So, when I got to the Ilex For-"

"Whoa, what's that?" Jojo interrupted, pointing ahead of them.

Though still a bit off in the distance, a small wooden shrine stood. Charlie froze, and the two ten-year-olds did in turn. Even from where they stood, a strange power seemed to emanate from it, foreign to the younger ones.

Charlie quickly turned to face them, looking a little nervous. "Whoops!" she said with a giggle, walking around them. "I took a wrong turn." She started off the way they came, moving quickly so that Adam and Jojo had to jog to keep up with her longer strides.

"Yeah, but what _was_ that?" Jojo pressed on, her eyes wide with curiosity.

Charlie took a deep calming breath, not looking at the little girl. She frowned a little as she thought over the dilemma before she finally looked over her shoulder. "Do you two know the story of how our universe was created?" she asked.

"Umm…kinda?" Jojo replied, frowning.

Charlie sighed before continuing. "Ok, well, would you like to hear it?" she asked, and the two nodded earnestly. She grinned and began with a slightly mystical tone to her voice. "Legend goes that our world started with Nothing. From Nothing, Mew was created."

"Wait, how was Mew created from Noth-" Jojo interjected, and Adam glared at her.

"Shhh!" he snapped, and then turned back to their escort.

"Mew formed the universe, and then formed a ruler of the universe. With that, Arceus was born. Arceus formed the planets and the stars and chose one planet to give to Mew," she continued.

"Hang on," Jojo said with a frown. "If Mew created the universe, why couldn't it rule over the universe?"

Charlie shrugged in reply, and Adam gave her a nasty look. "Stop interrupting!" he said angrily.

"Earth was given to Mew as a gift from Arceus, to rule over as he ruled the universe. However, Earth was a barren and empty planet, with no life on it. Mew created Groudon to form the land, Kyogre to form the sea, and Rayquaza to form the sky." She paused here and looked up at the just barely visible sky above them, hidden by the intertwining branches of the forest. "But their creations were still and unmoving …lifeless. To assist, Arceus created Dialga and Palkia, as they created time and space. Regigigas was made to give variety to Groudon's creation, and Regigigas moved the continents and created new materials. From these materials he made likenesses of himself; Regice, Regirock, and Registeel."

Jojo nodded uncertainly as Charlie said this. She always knew Pokémon had created their universe, she just never knew all the details.

"Still, with all of these creations, there was no life," their escort continued. "Shaymin was created and formed the forests on the land, while Ho-oh filled the land with the light of the sun. With the creation of new life, however, Dialga's gift of time could not affect the trees and the plants. Celebi was then formed to create time again, thus allowing the living to age and succumb to death."

Adam murmured a hushed, "Whoa," and looked up at Charlie, awed.

"With the creation of death came the Distortion World, a cruel alternate universe made to parallel ours. Darkrai controlled the darkness of the world, while Cresselia allowed peace and harmony to exist in ours. To rule over this new world, Giratina was given life."

"Okay, so, is the Distortion Wor-" Jojo began, but fell silent at Adam's face.

"Still, the trees and flowers of Earth lacked the complexity of the Gods, so Mew made creatures called Pokémon and gave them life. Left to their own devices, the Pokémon were savage creatures, constantly at war with one another. In order to tame them, Mew once again created an even more complex being; a human. However, the humans too were unruly and uncontrollable, so Arceus placed the control of their knowledge, emotion, and willpower into three new Gods – Uxie, Mespirit, and Azelf."

"Were we _really_ created by a Pokémon?" Adam asked, frowning skeptically. "And are we really controlled by them?"

"Stop interrupting!" Jojo said in a sarcastic voice, cocking her hip.

"The humans were content to rule over the Pokémon as friends and as leaders, but Mew was amused by these creatures and decided to test their intellect. Mew formed Articuno to challenge them with ice, Zapdos to challenge them with lightning, and Moltres to challenge them with fire." Charlie had taken to ignoring their little interjections, preferring to allow them to work it out. "However, the Titans were infinitely more powerful than the humans and soon took to terrorizing them whenever they took flight. Mew sent Lugia to put them to rest as the humans could not overcome the Titans themselves. Humans built the Brass Tower as homage to Lugia's gift to them. Together, Lugia and Ho-oh roosted atop this tower."

"Hang on, I thought Lugia lived in the Whirl Islands!" Jojo said with a pout.

"Well, you're obviously wrong," Adam muttered just loud enough for her to hear.

"A mysterious fire burned this majestic tower down, forcing the two birds to take flight. In this fire, three common Pokémon – a Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Flareon – had their life taken prematurely, and Ho-oh, unable to accept this fact, gave the three a powerful gift. As they were brought back to life, the God's power could not be contained in their previous forms, and they became Suicune, Raikou, and Entei. With these new powers, they were given the duties of Gods; Suicune brought rain, Raikou brought thunder, and Entei brought magma."

"Wow," Adam and Jojo chimed together; they had never heard of regular Pokémon becoming Legendaries before.

"As the humans began to form colonies and sectors on the now populous and prosperous Earth, they became too widespread for Mew to manage alone. As such, Celebi was given the power to rule of the forests of the land, Jirachi was formed to rule to stars, and Manaphy was formed to rule the seas."

Charlie paused as they walked on, and the newly setting sun cast a reddish glow in small patches where it managed to make its way through the gaps. "When a living creature is born, be it a human or a Pokémon, it is said that a Legendary watches over that birth and is connected to that creature. In their lifetime, if that person is ever to meet a Legendary, it is to be that same one that watches over them. That Legendary is, in a sense, their own personal God. As such, that Legendary is responsible for all over their creature's actions, making sure they are set on the right track. It is also said that a trainer and each and every one of their Pokémon are watched by the same Legendary. In cases where the Legendaries are not the same, the relationship between the two will, inevitably, fall apart," Charlie finished on a slightly depressing note.

"So, how do you know all that?" Jojo asked after the story had sunk in, the small wooden shrine completely wiped from her mind.

Charlie shrugged. "A lot of people know that, actually. It used to be almost like a bedtime story for children, but now, as you guys just proved, your generation hardly hears of it anymore. Scientists have been trying to disprove the theory for ages now, and they've managed to place enough reasonable doubt it everyone's mind to make it almost…taboo." She frowned as she said this, as though it troubled her deeply.

"Do _you_ believe it?" Adam asked thoughtfully.

Charlie nodded firmly. "Of course. Who am I to go against the Legendaries?" She laughed, and the children joined in with her. "C'mon, it'll be dark soon. We better set up camp for tonight."

* * *

"Thank you!" Jojo said politely to Charlie as she grinned widely. "That forest is kinda scary," she admitted, blushing a little.

"No problem," she replied with a wink, and the Granbull at her side gave a gruff snort of agreement. Rocket yipped happily towards the Fairy Pokémon, who sniffed in reply. Combat was returned to his ball, while the Growlithe followed at his trainer's heels. "Maybe we'll meet each other again sometime."

"That'd be cool," Adam said with a grin. With a fleeting "Bye!" from both of them, the two turned to make their way up Route 34 to Goldenrod City.

"I don't really like forests anymore," Jojo stated as they walked. "I never really liked them in the first place, actually, but now I _really_ don't like them. I feel all gross and icky and that was only three days. Also, I have a whole new appreciation for indoor plumbing. Speaking of which, I have to pee. I've been holding it for awhile because I really miss toilets. How far are we from Goldenrod?"

Adam gave her a strange look before replying. "It's about an hour or two away," he said, rolling his eyes. "We'll get there around two o'clock."

"Two o'clock?" Jojo whined, her signature pout appearing. "But I have to _pee_!"

"My Mew, calm down," he snapped at her. "There's a day care center up ahead, and I'm sure they have a bathroom you can use."

"They better," Jojo muttered in a threatening voice, making Adam very sure of the fact that he would pay if they didn't.

About ten minutes of the young trainer's incessant whining later, they reached the welcoming building, which Jojo burst quickly through.

"Hello!" a kindly old woman said as she entered. "How are you?"

"Hi," she replied breathlessly. "Do you have a bathroom I can use?"

"Down that hallway," the woman said, pointing behind Jojo. Without a second thought, she rushed out of sight.

A few minutes later, she returned to see Adam talking to the woman and an equally aged man she assumed to be her husband. "Thank you," she said with a grin.

"No trouble at all," the woman replied. "Your friend here was just telling us about your trek through the Ilex Forest. That's a pretty dangerous way to come," she said with a chuckle. "Most trainers get to Goldenrod through Violet these days."

Jojo pursed her lips; she would have_ loved _to be coming through Violet with her friends, but she kept quiet. Instead, she busied herself looking around. The walls were covered from floor to ceiling with brightly colored Pokémon eggs of all sizes, while the floor was cushioned with a thick padding.

"How come the floor's so squishy?" Jojo asked, cocking her head.

The old man chuckled. "In case one of these eggs fell. If the floor was hard, they might crack." Jojo nodded, seeming to understand this.

"Can I…touch them?" she asked innocently, looking wide-eyed at the man. He nodded, but added a grave, "Be very careful."

Needing no further invitation, she rushed forward, stopping to look at them carefully. She placed her bag on the floor and ran her fingers across the metal shelves, her lips pursed in what appeared to be deep thought.

Adam continued to chat with the old couple about all of the rare Pokémon they had raised, when a sharp gasp made them whip their heads around.

Jojo had knocked one of the many shelves off balance, and eggs were tumbling down onto the (thankfully) padded flooring. The girl looked distraught; she clapped her hands to her mouth and her eyes began to fill with tears. Instantly, she dropped to her hands and knees and began to scramble to pick them up. "I'm _so_ sorry!" she wailed, allowing a few tears to fall off of her face. She was pushing the eggs haphazardly onto the shelves, into any empty space she could find. Fortunately for her, the rack that she had bumped into had been mostly empty, containing only about half the eggs it could hold. "I'm so sorry!" she repeated tearfully as the other three rushed over to help. Jojo picked up her bag and whimpered, looking terribly distressed.

"That's alright, dear," the woman comforted, patting her back. "That's what the cushions are for," she said with a chuckle.

Jojo continued to cry, saying nothing but, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm just so clumsy! I'm sorry!" as the woman rubbed her shoulders in a soothing manner.

Adam frowned as he picked up the last egg and placed it carefully onto the shelf. Jojo was acting rather strange; for one, he had learned that after seven years of dance training, Jojo, though careless, was not clumsy in the least. For another, she certainly wasn't the kind of person who would openly lie and put herself in a worse light.

"I should go," she said sorrowfully. "I'm_ really_ sorry!" With a remorseful pout etched onto her face, she ran embarrassedly out of the day care.

"I'm sorry," Adam apologized as well, though he did not know what for; for bringing her here? _That_, he thought with a smirk, was a very good reason to apologize.

The woman shook her head and waved her hand in a "don't-worry-about-it" way. "You should catch up with your friend and make sure she's alright," she instructed, and Adam nodded and ran out of the day care as well.

"Jojo!" he called, seeing her waiting a little way up the road for him. "Hey," he panted as he caught up with her. "Are you okay?"

He looked up at her, expecting to see the same distraught face she wore back at the center. Instead, she wore a slightly guilty but exhilarated smile, and it looked as though she was trying very hard to suppress giggles. "Was I good?" she asked hopefully with a laugh.

Adam looked bewildered. "Good at what?"

"Acting, of course!" she said with a haughty sniff. She looked him over, grinning knowingly. "You believed me, didn't you? Yes! That means I was _really_ good!"

"What are you talking about?" Adam said; he had no idea what she was going on about.

Jojo rolled her eyes and reached into her bag and, with a giggle, pulled out a small yellow and black egg.

Adam mouth fell open and his eyes bulged as he took in what he saw. "You stole a Pokémon egg?" he shouted, and Jojo quickly clasped a hand over his mouth, glaring.

"Shush!" she snapped, before lowering her voice and motioning him to walk as she cradled the egg against her chest. "Of course! They weren't going to give me one, were they? So I made a distraction and grabbed one," she replied with a nonchalant shrug.

"Bu- but, Jojo, that's stealing!" Adam spluttered.

"I mean, duh. When you asked me if I _stole_ an egg, I kinda thought you realized that already." Jojo rolled her eyes, and looked ahead to see the horizon of Goldenrod in the distance.

"So, you already stole an egg and a Hoothoot?" Adam asked.

"Hey, Turn _wanted_ to come with me!" Jojo defended, pouting yet again. "That's not _really_ stealing!"

"Yes it is!" Adam retorted incredulously. "How about Rocket and Zero, huh? Didja steal them, too?"

"No!" Jojo said indignantly, looking flushed. "I caught Rocket fair and square!"

"And Zero?" Adam asked, raising his eyebrows.

"_That_," Jojo said, speeding up her pace to put distance between the two of them, "is none of your business."

"Tell me!" Adam insisted, running to catch up with her.

"MYOB!" Jojo called over her shoulder, and she began running to get away from him.

"Jojo!" he yelled angrily as he began to gain on her.

"M," she drawled, speeding up, "YOB!"

"It _is _my business!" he shouted back; he received no answer, she only sped up as she rushed toward the Goldenrod City gate. "Jojo! Get back here!"

* * *

"I still don't see why you won't tell me," Adam said grouchily as Jojo sat down with the egg clutched tightly to her.

"I thought I told you to mind your own business," she replied haughtily, raising her nose in the air.

"I thought I told you it_ is_ my business!" Adam shot back. Jojo simply rolled her eyes.

"Nurse Joy says our Pokémon will be all better in ten minutes," she said, ignoring him. "She also says we're lucky they're not fainted after that forest."

"Whatever," he snapped; Jojo only rolled her eyes again. "You owe me."

"_What_ do I owe you?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"We get to go to the Contest Hall after this," he replied, and Jojo narrowed her eyes.

"Why do you want to go _there_?" she nearly screamed, looking flushed. "That place is just filled with wannabe trainers that couldn't make it battling, so they decided making Pokémon look pretty was a better alternative." She sniffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"Rachel told me you'd say that," Adam said with a cocky grin. Jojo pursed her lip but said nothing, instead opting for a particularly nasty glare. "Why don't we go meet some coordinators? It's one of the first contests of the year, so there's bound to be a bunch of rookies like us," he reasoned.

Jojo frowned. Us? He might have been a trainer, but he was just a traveler, like Charlie. Was there such thing as a rookie tourist? Pushing it out of her mind, she said, "I don't want to meet any coordinators." She pushed her nose into the air once again, as though this settled the matter.

"You owe me," Adam challenged.

"No I don't," she replied lightly, as though daring him to push the challenge further.

"Rachel also said that a couple of your friends decided to become coordinators, too," Adam continued.

Jojo's eyes lit up as she said this, and a small grin appeared on her face. "Fine," she said, drawing herself up and pulling her egg closer to her. "We can go, under one condition."

Adam grimaced, but asked anyway. "And what would that be?"

* * *

"Jojo, I'm pretty sure we can't be back here!" Adam hissed, looking disgruntled.

"I'm looking for someone!" she snapped back and began to move faster to spite him.

"And why would they be in a contest waiting room?"

"Because she's a coordinator, duh!" she growled.

"Hey, you! Blondie!" a girl's voice carried over to the duo, who snapped out of their conversation to look up. A girl with long brown hair walked confidently over to them and looked thoughtfully at Jojo.

Jojo rose to her full height – a mere four feet one inch – and faced the brown-haired girl. "Who're you?" she asked, cocking her hips.

"You look familiar," she replied, ignoring the question. "Where do I know you from?"

"I don't know," Jojo shrugged, crossing her arms. "I don't know _you_."

Looking a bit taken aback at the Jojo's attitude, the brunette frowned. "Wait a sec – don't you have an Umbreon? I thought that was your main contest Pokémon, not a Growlithe!" Rocket, who was standing at Jojo's feet, barked in indignation.

"You have an Umbreon?" another girl chimed, butting into their conversation. She was much taller than the other girls and had a few inches over Adam, even. "You're so lucky! They're adorable!"

"Hold up," Adam said. "She doesn't have an Umbreon."

"And I'm _not_ a coordinator!" Jojo huffed, looking flushed.

"Then why are you back here?" a boy with a brown hat walked over; they were attracting quite a scene.

"Because…ugh!" she screeched. It appeared that everyone was coming over now. Only two coordinators continued to mind their own business – a small boy who wore a gray t-shirt and a girl in a wheelchair.

"Wait a sec," the brunette repeated, her exotic purple eyes lighting up. "You're Jillian, aren't you?"

Jojo, who had begun to make her way away from the crowd, stopped suddenly in her tracks. Then, in her deadliest voice, "Excuse me?"

"Jillian Jones, right?" she continued, appearing to miss the subtle threat in Jojo's voice.

An angry pout on her face, Jojo gave the girl the nastiest look she could muster. "Who're you?" she repeated slowly.

"Sory," the girl replied, narrowing her eyes at Jojo's unspoken challenge. "If you're not Jillian, than who are you?"

"_You_," Jojo sneered, looking condescendingly at Sory, "can call me Joanna."

"Oh," Sory said with a small laugh of understanding. "So it was your _sister_ that was trash-talking my sister on the radio."

"Who's your sister?" Jojo asked, evidently curious now.

"Coryara, the Dark-type specialist of the Elite Four." Sory smirked as comprehension dawned on Jojo's face. "And your Jillian's sister, right? The Umbreon Kimono Girl?"

Jojo nodded in confirmation, while Adam looked shocked at this news.

"Your sister is a _Kimono Girl_?" he asked, his mouth hanging open.

"And you wonder why I don't tell you things," Jojo muttered scathingly. "C'mon, my friend's not here and the contest is going to start soon. Let's go."

* * *

**A/N; I'm pretty sure this is the quickest update yet. Don't get used to it.**

**Fairly shorter chapter, considering the ones I've been writing recently. You know, I have every chapter planned out down to exactly which events are happening? Yeah, I keep screwing myself over. :P I meant to include the entire contest in this chapter with a lot of individualized time with the coordinators, but I would probably end up making it horribly shortened and just not worth it. This means the story is going to end up being much longer than I anticipated, but you know what? :P And that's all I have to say. This way, all the coordinator OCs I'm using will get more stage time and you'll get to know them better.**

**Charlie belongs to MineralRabbit**

**Sory belongs to Jigglypuff's Pillow**

**"Tall girl" (Silvia Arrowe) belongs to Ziria Nightrose**

**"Boy with a brown hat" (Garfield O'Callaghan) belongs to Mistress Circe**

**"Small boy" (Glen Murdock) belongs to Kyuuketsuki Fang**

**"Girl in a wheelchair" (Jennifer) belongs to iflip4dolphins**

**That should cover everyone, yes?**

**MYOB = Mind your own business, if you didn't know. Tell me I'm not the only person that said that as a child?**

**So, I think you should all know by now that Irene…isn't the smartest. As in, she's an idiot. I've made a bunch of mistakes in the past chapters and I've just been editing out everything I don't like and adding in things I forgot. Not too many things are changing; the biggest ones would be the removal of the whole six emotions thing (what was I on?) and the RocketBattle!scene in chapter four. I mean, it'd be a good idea to read it again, just so you don't miss anything, but not really necessary. I'm just a perfectionist. :P**

**Did you know that Legendaries really contradict themselves? Celebi and Dialga both control time. Groudon formed land but Regigigas shaped it. Articuno and Regice? Entei and Heatran (who was not-so-graciously excluded)? Mew and Arceus? That little history lesson was really hard for me to create, and it probably doesn't make sense. /giving up**

**So, Jojo steals an egg and gets a stalker (whose leg Rocket _doesn't_ bite), and we meet some superawesomesauce OCs, who I promise get the screen time they deserve (and they really do deserve it) next chapter.**

**Until then, au revoir~**


	7. Chapter 7

"Up first, we have Silvia Arrowe!" the announcer, Gillian Meridian, said into her microphone. Jojo finally stopped slouching in her seat and looked on attentively, despite the scowl still resting on her face.

The tall blonde girl they had met in the contest waiting room ran out onto the field, wearing a glittering bluish- green dress and a ridiculously large bow in her hair that could rival Jojo's. She grinned widely at the audience before expanding the Poké Ball in her hand. "Let's go, Fergie!" she called, and spun as she released the Pokémon within the ball.

A Totodile appeared in a flash as the bubbles from her ball seal floated up. "Alright, Fergie, you know what to do! Use Dig!"

With a confirmation nod, the Totodile sprang high into the air before diving deep beneath the earthy surface of the field. She would pop back up at seemingly random intervals, using the force of each leap to propel herself back into another hole, creating a series of connecting openings.

"Dig isn't a move Totodile normally uses," Jojo stated as she watched the appeal with interest, the nasty look on her face replaced by one of interest.

"There are many ways to teach Pokémon a certain move," Adam replied sagely.

"Whoa, look! It's a heart!" she exclaimed suddenly, leaning forward in her seat. As Adam looked, he realized she was right; the holes Fergie had created formed the shape of a heart.

The Totodile launched herself higher than before from the point of the heart, flipping itself over midair. "Now, Fergie, use Water Gun!" Silvia instructed, and a stream of water was unleashed from the Big Jaw Pokémon's mouth into the same hole she had just come from. She landed lightly onto the ground, while several different jets of water came shooting out from the other holes she had made, creating a water fountain-like effect.

The crowd burst into applause as Silvia and Fergie bowed, each smiling proudly up at everyone.

"That was pretty good," Jojo allowed, looking fairly impressed. "I mean, considering that she's a rookie."

"Please welcome Soryana Vinora!" Gillian announced, and Jojo couldn't help noticing the smile on her face looked as though it had been plastered there. When she looked back down, she saw the brunette they had met earlier wearing a smile of such confidence that even Jojo raised an eyebrow. She looked meticulously clean in her plain but elegant black dress, and with the black rose in her hair, she appeared twelve or thirteen instead of ten. Despite her appearance, however, Jojo's face formed a scowl again.

"She has horrible fashion sense," Jojo stated darkly.

"What?" Adam snapped, whipping around to face her. "What are you talking about?"

"The coordinator's appearance count as ten percent of their overall score," Jojo lectured, crossing her arms. "In other words, if you don't dress up, the highest average you can get is a ninety, and _no one_ gets a perfect score…ever."

"I know that, Jojo," he replied, looked confused and a little offended, as though he took the insult to Sory as a personal attack. "But why do you say she looks bad?"

"So what to the Kimono Girls decide to do?" Jojo rambled on, ignoring her companion. "Turn it into a business opportunity, as though they _need_ more money. _Kimono Couture_." She spat the unoriginal name of the fashion line viciously.

"Yeah, but Sory doesn't look bad," Adam said fairly. "Aren't girls supposed to love designer dresses, anyway?"

"That dress just so happens to be a _Jillian Jones exclusive_."

The incredibly bitter tone shocked Adam, but he had no time to reply, because Sory had released a glittering Skarmory is a flash of red light and green notes.

"Alright, Silica, let's go! Steel Wing!"

"Steel Wing?" Adam questioned, frowning. "That's an offensive move…what's it going to attack?"

Jojo threw Adam a scathing look. "You really know nothing about contests, do you?" she huffed, rolling her eyes. "Watch."

"Featherdance!" Sory continued, and the Skarmory took flight, flapping her shimmering wings forcefully. Multiple gleaming feathers fell down from where she hovered a few feet above the arena.

The audience applauded, and Jojo stared intently at Sory, frowning slightly. She was good, and something about her was familiar, though she couldn't figure out what it was. Maybe it was the hands placed firmly on her hips, or maybe it was the cocky, all-knowing, 'I'm-going-to-win' smirk on her face, but the trainer felt connected to her, no matter how hard she tried to shake the feeling.

"Finish with Night Slash!" Her wings then began to glow dark purple, and she flew directly at the feathers, slicing every last one. As they were hit, they turned into little clouds of gleaming dust, which fell down gently onto Silica, who had landed gracefully.

The crowd roared their approval, and Jojo's frown had disappeared. "She's in the battle round," she stated simply, and Adam agreed with her wholeheartedly.

After bowing to the still clapping crowd and recalling her Steel-type, Sory walked coolly out of the arena, her head held high. Not long afterwards, the crowd fell into complete silence.

Everyone's attention was on the girl rolling herself out onto the field. That fact itself was a shock – a young coordinator such as her should have been walking, not _rolling_. However, that wasn't the case as she pushed the wheelchair on farther until she reached the center, and withdrew a Poké Ball, apparently oblivious to the stunned silence.

"Let's welcome Jennifer!" Gillian said a little pointedly, implying that the silence should end immediately.

As the crowd applauded and cheered notably louder than before, Jen released a Teddiursa into the arena. Wasting no time, she began with, "Use Sweet Kiss, Teddiursa!"

The Little Bear Pokémon brought her honey-covered paws to her lips and blew a kiss to the crowd, a large bright pink heart floating away from her.

"Finish up with Swift!" Jen instructed, and her Teddiursa launched multiple stars into the air, aiming for the heart. When they contacted, it exploded like a balloon, causing a shower of hearts and stars all throughout the crowd.

The reception of her appeal was greater than even Sory's, though the reason was debatable. Multiple coordinators entered and preformed, but none stood out in Jojo's mind (partially because she was distracted by playing with her Pokédex). Finally, it was time for the battle round, and Jojo eagerly put the pink device away.

"Now we might get around to something interesting," Jojo said, stretching her arms back over her head.

"And here are your contestants for the battle round!" Gillian said, moving her arm towards the large video screen.

Silvia, Sory, and Jen were all there, along with the boy wearing that brown hat she had seen in the waiting room and another young boy wearing a simple gray t-shirt. The others on the screen included a cute girl with black hair pulled into an updo, a two other boys.

"Our first battle will be between Soryana Vinora and Shiron Kerlin!"

"Night, let's go!" Sory smiled as she released a Poochyena in a puff of white smoke.

"C'mon, Pearl!" Shiron said, and a Vulpix leaped gracefully from her ball.

Jojo watched the battle with a little more interest than the appeals, but she still looked rather bored. While Adam's eyes were glowing with excitement, much like the rest of the crowd's, she continually made comments such as, "Why use Will-O-Wisp? Just go straight for Ember," or "That Sand-Attack was so pointless. There was a wide opening for a direct attack!"

"Jojo, you're ruining the battle!" Adam said, frowning at her. "The purpose of a contest battle is way different than a gym battle."

"No, it's not," Jojo said arrogantly, crossing her arms. "The purpose is always to _win_."

Adam's retort was lost as Night's Bite reached Pearl, causing her to faint. "And the winner is Sory and her Poochyena!"

The two didn't speak for a while as they watched the other boy, Lawrence, get eliminated by Jennifer and the boy in gray (Jojo eventually learned his name was Glen) beat the black-haired girl, Ade, despite the type disadvantage of his Totodile against her Pachirisu. Eventually, the only first-round battle was Silvia and the boy with the brown hat, Garfield.

Silvia released her battling Pokémon, a Mareep named Surge, while Garfield called out a Skitty named Sandy.

Jojo's eyes lit up as she leaned forward in her seat. "A Skitty _and_ a Mareep?" she squealed, looking delighted. "Those are like my two favorite Pokémon _ever_!

"Really? You like Mareep? I always thought you'd be more into, I dunno, Plusle and Minun, or Jolteon, or something."

"You're forgetting I grew up in Olivine," Jojo said lightly. "Our city's mascot_ is_ an Ampharos."

"Sand-Attack followed with Fake-Out!" Garfield commanded, and, as Jojo and Adam looked back to the battle, his Skitty kicked sand into Surge's face. Before it cleared, he ran directly towards the Mareep, before feinting left and then jumping high over his head, slapping him in his right side with his tail.

Silvia's points dropped significantly on the board, and her face fell as she looked worried. "Cotton Spore, Surge, and then ThunderShock!"

The Mareep jumped into the air and shook his body like a wet dog; multiple small patches of wool flew off and gravitated to the Kitten Pokémon, smothering him. As he attempted to shake them off, Surge unleashed a small thunderbolt at him, causing the white fluff to explode into small, shimmering pieces of dust. Garfield's points fell below Silvia's just as the timer expired.

Silvia cheered happily and ran onto the field to hug her Pokémon, while Garfield sigh, recalled his Skitty, and gave a good-natured smile to the crowd before walking off.

Silvia's joy was short-lived, however, as her Sentret was thoroughly crushed by Sory's own Mareep, qualifying the dark-haired girl for the final round.

"Please welcome Glen and Jennifer!" Gillian was drowned out by the excited crowd's applause and cheering.

As the two ten-year-olds faced each other and pulled out their Poké Balls, Jojo frowned yet again. "Why isn't he wearing a contest outfit? I mean, I guess his appeal was good enough to get him through, but still…this is a rookie contest. He's gonna need a suit or something."

"Come on out, Snuffles!" Glen shouted, and a Houndour appeared on the field.

"Let's go, Natu!"Jen countered, and the small Psychic-type materialized, looking horribly under-powered in comparison to his opponent.

Jojo, growing bored of the lack of action-packed battles, pulled her trusty Pokédex back out from her bag, deciding to research good training techniques for Growlithe, though it was slightly difficult with one hand wrapped tightly around her egg. Eventually, Adam shook her and said, "Contest battles aren't even that long, Jojo, just pay attention!"

With a sigh, she returned Dexterity to her bag and focused back on the battle. The timer showed fifteen seconds left, with Glen falling not far behind his opponent.

"Smog and Smokescreen, Snuffles, and then follow with Ember!" he yelled anxiously, glancing up at the clock. The Dark Pokémon released a mixture of purple and dark gray smoke, which surrounded Natu, who had been putting up a good fight so far. It choked and spluttered, causing Jen's points to drop, although she was still ahead of Glen. Immediately, Snuffles launched the well-aimed Ember at his opponent, ensuring his win.

"And that's the timer!" Gillian announced as the buzzer went on. Not even a second later, the Fire-type attack landed squarely, knocking the Psychic-type out. "The winner is…Jennifer!" The girl's face was blown up on the screen, showing her numerous light freckles, the same color as her warm brown hair. Jojo's expression darkened, and Adam recognized the oncoming explosion quickly.

"C'mon, Jojo, let's get something to drink or something," he said hastily, wanting her out of the crowded hall before she came close to punching a stranger.

"That was completely unfair!" she screeched, nearly dropping her egg as she stormed around the lobby. "He – Glen – should have won! He beat that Natu!"

"Not within the time limit," Adam said lightly, trying to keep her anger directed at anything that wasn't him. "And coordinators have to win within the time limit."

"That's why I _hate_ contests! They're stupid! The purpose of a Pokémon battle is to make the Pokémon _battle_, not look pretty! Battles shouldn't have time limits! They should keep going until the Pokémon faint!" Jojo ranted in a loud voice, looking furious. "Glen should have won!"

"That's just not how contests work, Jojo," Adam said, struggling for something to say to her._ Maybe bringing her here was a bad idea. Note to self: If I ever meet Rachel again, consider punching her._

"_Whatever_," she said scathingly, her nose scrunched up yet again. As Adam tried to convince her to go back inside to watch the final match, she steadfastly refused and sat down on a bench, folding her legs and clutching the egg close to her chest.

Adam shrugged and left to see the rest of the battle, leaving Jojo sitting alone and feeling rather self-conscious. She watched a few of the coordinators who had already been eliminated walk out of their waiting room, and, as Glen appeared, she stared intently at him, thinking hard. He sat on another bench, looking slightly upset – though nowhere near the level Jojo would have been – with his Totodile sitting next to him. Her eyes narrowed, Jojo stood up and walked confidently over to him.

"You're Glen, right?" she asked, attempting to ease her expression so she wouldn't look too angry.

"That's me," Glen replied, his eyes lighting up a little as he shook the loss off. "Nice to meet you."

"I just wanted to say that it was _totally _unfair that you lost," she said matter-of-factly. "You knocked the Natu out, didn't you? Who cares about a stupid time limit?"

Glen smiled at the bold stranger. "Thanks," he said earnestly, "but that's how contests go. You have to be the best within a time limit."

"That's whyI do gyms," Jojo muttered defiantly, still looking upset.

"So, what's your name?" Glen asked.

"Call me Jojo," she replied, before staring at him with her lips pursed. "How come you weren't wearing a contest outfit?" she demanded suddenly.

He looked slightly sheepish. "…I don't have one," he admitted.

"Well," Jojo said airily, "you're lucky you made it through to the battle round. The coordinator's appearance counts towards the score, too. If you want to win the Grand Festival, or even make it there –" She circled him with a critical eye "– you're going to need some new clothes."

"But I don't –" Glen struggled to find something to say.

"Wait for my friend to come out," Jojo instructed, hoisting the egg back up in her arms. "Then we're going to go shopping."

Glen spluttered for a second, unsure of what to think, but did not get a chance to question her; the final round was apparently over, and the crowd began exiting. Jojo stood on her tiptoes, attempting to find her companion, while grabbing onto Glen's wrist so as not to lose him. Eventually, she saw his wild brown hair poking out from underneath his hat, and shouted his name, which he – unsurprisingly, considering it was Jojo – heard over the crowd.

When they reached each other, beckoned him to follow and forced her way through the mob, finally managing to get outside. Skipping any form of introduction or explanation, she continued dragging them on until they reached Goldenrod Department Store, ignoring their protests.

"Jojo, what are you doing?" Adam finally said as he rubbed his wrist.

"This is Glen." She smiled, motioning to the young coordinator. "And this," she said, turning to face Glen, "is Adam. We're going shopping."

"Jojo, you're _so_…" Adam struggled for something to say.

"Kind? Generous? Giving?" She gave a cheeky grin; he responded with a dangerous look. "That's what I thought. Now c'mon, guys!" Without giving them a chance to protest, she walked serenely into the Department Store.

She held the door open button in the elevator just long enough to allow the two boys in before pressing the one for the eighth floor. She had come here many times with her mother and older sister back when they lived Olivine and Goldenrod was only a short drive away; she knew it almost as well as the back of her hand. While the elevator was going up, she slipped her egg gently into her bag.

"Uhh, Jojo," Glen began, looking slightly embarrassed, "I don't really have enough money for clothing from this store."

"Don't worry about it," Jojo said simply, still searching through her bag.

"But I can't just let you pay for it, either!" he protested.

"Oh, I'm not." She grinned broadly as she pulled out a black headband. She glanced up at the mirrored ceiling of the elevator as she switched it for the one already on her head.

"But…" Glen looked uncomfortable at her tone.

Just moments afterwards, the elevator opened up again while Adam inhaled sharply. "Jojo, don't you dar-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Jojo was far from the elevator and already lost in the women's section, near a sign that read _Kimono Couture_. Her hands found the same black dress that Sory had been wearing earlier. She quickly slipped into a dressing room tucked the tags into the side of the dress. She exchanged it for the one she was wearing, shoved the blue-and-white one into her bag, and peered underneath the door to see if anyone was there. When the coast was clear, she exited and went back into the main area. Walking over to the boy's section of _Kimono Couture_, she thought of what Glen would look best in. With a shrug, considering she had only known him for around half an hour, she grabbed something that seemed acceptable and walked up to the register.

"Excuse me," she said, adopting a regal tone in her voice as she looked the cashier in the eye.

"Welcome to Goldenrod Department Store, how can I he- oh, Ms. Jones!" the wiry boy gasped, looked shocked to see the young girl in front of him. "How may I be of assistance?" he asked quickly, looking nervous.

"We've…been getting complaints about this outfit," she said, looking a little nervous herself. With a cough, she straightened up and looked at him squarely. "We need to look it over again, but our factory is over in Kanto and having it shipped would take too long, so I offered to run down here and pick one up. Do you mind?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at the last sentence.

"Not at all, Ms. Jones," he replied, shaking his head quickly. "Go right ahead!" He gave a nervous little chuckle and nodded vigorously.

Jojo offered him a cold smile. "Thank you," she said in the same haughty tone, and she turned to make her leave. As she walked out towards the elevator, where Adam and Glen were still standing, the alarm went off. She turned back to the cashier with an eyebrow raised, and he waved a hand nonchalantly to tell her not to worry about it.

Wordlessly, Adam and Glen followed her into the elevator, which was thankfully empty. As soon as the doors closed, Jojo thrust the suit into Glen's hands and said, "You look like a small. I hope you're a small, because that's what I got you and it'd look too suspicious if I went back and got a different size. Plus, it looked like some of those shoppers wanted autographs, and I haven't gotten those down yet."

The two boys still made no sound as she the light for floor seven popped on. "Turn around and keep your eyes shut," she snapped, walking towards the back of the elevator. "I need to change." Jojo turned to stare at them until she was certain they weren't looking. Once satisfied, she quickly slipped out of the black dress, the tags scratching her sides as she pulled it over her head. She then placed her old blue and white one back on, switched the headbands again, and pulled the yellow and black egg out of her bag. "'Kay, you can turn around now!" she announced happily as the second floor light lit up.

When they still said nothing, she scoffed angrily and clutched the egg closer to her chest. "_What_? I got you an outfit, didn't I?"

"Jojo, you stole it!" Adam said angrily, finally speaking up. "Why do you think it's okay for you to just go around stealing things that aren't yours?"

"I didn't _steal _it!" Jojo replied, turning her nose up indignantly. "I…put it on my sister's tab!"

Adam opened his mouth to retort, but couldn't as the elevator opened to the last floor. They all walked out of the department store, Jojo leading coolly at the front. As soon as they were outside, Adam grabbed her upper arm and pulled her into a side alley, angrier than she had ever seen him. Glen followed awkwardly behind, looking rather out of place. "Let _go_," she said viciously, twisting herself out of his grasp, holding tighter onto the egg. "What's your _problem_?"

"That wasn't your suit."

"So?"

"That's stealing!"

"No kidding!" Jojo huffed, rolling her eyes. "I'm aware of that!"

"Do you think Glen wants to wear a stolen suit? That'd be like cheating! All the other competitors paid for their contest outfits the right way!"

"Oh, really? You know that for certain? You were there when every other coordinator bought their outfit?" Jojo cocked her hip, pursed her lips firmly together, and gave him the coldest look she could muster, thinking she had won.

"Does it matter? Is cheating okay when everyone else does it?" Adam snapped back.

Jojo's gaze fell, and she appeared forlorn. "Look, my sister owes me anyway, okay? She's the only one losing money from this in the first place, right? I'll just tell her she paid me back," she replied, though she was still staring at her feet and looked guiltier than Adam had expected her to. As her head snapped back up and she glared fiercely at him, however, he realized it would probably be a long while before he saw that look cross her face again.

Jojo turned to make her way out of the alley, but stopped when she saw Glen standing embarrassedly to the side. "Sorry," she murmured truthfully, unable to look him in the eye. Before he could reply, she bolted out of the street, trying to put as much distance in between her and the boys.

When Jojo wanted to be left alone, she had a strange talent of getting that wish. Having realized that she could run very fast if need be, she immediately starting sprinting away, taking any turn she could to throw them off in case they were following her. She knew in the end that she would return to the Pokémon Center that she and Adam were staying at – it wasn't like she was about to sleep out on the streets – but right now she felt embarrassed and immature and simply wanted to walk it off.

She slowed down to simply meandering, fully convinced now that they were either not following her or had lost track of where she was. As she wandered down a new street, she realized with a sudden start that the sun was almost completely hidden by the horizon, and she could already pick out a few stars in the golden-pink sky. She kept her head upwards as she walked, not even bothering to look where she was going.

"Oh!" she gasped suddenly, before stepping back to look at the man she had bumped into. "Sorry," she muttered for the second time that day, and she scrunched her nose like she always did when displeased; she did not like to admit to being wrong, and twice in one afternoon was a little unbearable for her.

"What's a little lady like you doing back here?" the man asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Jojo frowned at him, instinctively pulling her bag closer to her. The next stranger who called her that was going to be punched, she decided. "I was just…taking a walk. Why?" she said defensively, glaring directly at him, when she realized that she recognized the hat he was wearing. She gasped yet again when she took in his entire appearance; he was wearing the exact same uniform Robin and Hood had been wearing. "You're from Team Rocket!" she accused, her normally big brown eyes narrowing to slits.

The grunt raised an eyebrow before bursting into laughter. "So what if I am, blondie? What're ya gonna do? Turn me into the police?" He snickered, bending down to her level. "Oooh, are ya gonna take me out yourself?"

"Rocket!" she yelled, throwing his ball into the air. The Growlithe came out and barked in what he obviously thought to be an intimidating way. He gave a low, rumbling growl at the man, getting into a battling stance.

"Tough one, aren't ya, little lady?" The man laughed and tossed his own ball into the air. A Raticate appeared and hissed threateningly; even Jojo was surprised that Rocket didn't flinch in the slightest.

"Ember, Rocket, let's go!" As though he had been anticipating it, he immediately unleashed a steady stream of flames at the Mouse Pokémon, who took the brunt of the attack and emerged looking unscathed.

"Hmm, not that tough after all." The grunt laughed, and had there not been two Pokémon in between them, Jojo probably would have simply kicked him in the shin and run away. Much as she wanted to, however, the Raticate was an unfortunate problem. "Hyper Fang!"

"Dodge it!" she called automatically; she did not know what Hyper Fang did, and had little desire to find out. Rocket obeyed with ease, his speed outranking his opponent's effortlessly.

The Rocket member looked shocked for just a moment before regaining his composure and glowering at Jojo. She smirked in reply and called, "Flame Wheel, Rocket!"

She bit her lip after yelling it; though Rocket had managed the more difficult attack a few times during their training sessions, he had yet to master it. Still, he ran full-force at the Raticate, a bright orange flame forming at his mouth. He jumped high into the air and somersaulted, rolling into his opponent perfectly.

The Raticate let out a small scream of pain and writhed under the Fire-type attack, and Jojo noticed with a grin that Rocket had managed to burn him.

"Great job, Rocket!" she cheered, pumping her fist into the air. It took her a moment to realize, however, that the grunt was laughing darkly at her cheering. "What?" she snapped at him, placing one hand on her hip. "I wouldn't be laughing if I were you!"

"Yes, you would," he called back tauntingly. "Ever heard of Guts, blondie?"

"Guts?" she said, tilting her head to the side in confusion. Her question was answered, however, when Raticate's eyes started to glow bright red. What looked like electricity surrounded him and crackled ominously while he gave another – much louder – scream, and it was obviously not of pain this time. "What just-?" she started, but was unable to finish.

"Hyper Fang!" the grunt yelled yet again, and Jojo struggled to find her voice.

"D-dodge it, _dodge it_!" she commanded, but even as she said it she knew she was too late, and despite his efforts to get away, the Growlithe's hind leg was pierced by the Mouse Pokémon's enormous glowing teeth. Thrashing in pain, he managed to kick Raticate off. She coughed to clear her throat, which seemed to have closed in her fear. "Use…umm…"

Her eyes widened as she realized she had no idea what to call out, while the Raticate was ordered to "finish it" with another Hyper Fang. She then clenched them shut and began to shake slightly; with the wound on his leg, Rocket couldn't dodge again, and she didn't want to see him be brutally ripped apart by their opponent.

"Reflect."

Jojo stopped shaking suddenly, though she didn't dare open her eyes. _She_ had certainly not said that, and if the Team Rocket member did, his voice must have changed radically in the course of about five seconds. Instead of the singsong, mocking voice, it was a cool, static one instead.

She opened one eye carefully to look at the battlefield; Rocket was being shielded by a Chikorita, who had a bright orange ball glowing in front of her. Raticate was several feet away, having rebounded from the force of the barrier.

"Vine Whip," the same voice said again, and Jojo's head whipped around to look for its owner. Standing a few feet away from her was a boy that seemed around her age. He was taller than her, probably taller than Adam if he was here for her to compare, and his face had an indifferent, apathetic look about it. He had jewel-red hair, almost as long as Glen's, and he stood there coldly, not even looking at Jojo. His Chikorita sent two powerful vines at the Mouse Pokémon, who flew even farther away and lay motionless, obviously knocked out.

"Who are you!" the grunt demanded, looking incredibly angry at being shown up by a random kid.

"Return," he said, pulling a Poké Ball out and recalling his Grass-type. He turned to leave, but stopped when the Rocket yelled again.

"I asked you a question!"

"And I ignored it," he stated simply without even bothering to face him, and this time did not wait to be queried again; he proceeded to walk down a different street.

Looking as dumbstruck as her opponent, Jojo quickly returned Rocket to his ball and ran off after the red-haired boy. "Wait up!" she called as he came into sight; once again, he froze but didn't turn around. "Who are you?"

"Why would I answer you but not him?" he asked plainly, his voice level and unchanging.

"Because you helped me, didn't you?" she shot back.

The sun had set long ago during her battle with the Rocket grunt, and she was suddenly aware of how dangerous it had been to go off wandering by herself, how stupid she had been to try and take on an adult. The brisk night air breezed against her bare arms, and she pulled the stolen egg closer to her chest.

"Hn," was his reply.

"That's not even a word," she said coolly, rolling her eyes; she half expected him to simply walk away. Something was telling her to keep that from happening, that despite him being unfriendly and nearly emotionless, he had saved her and if he left, no one would be able to protect her.

"You're stupid and pathetic," he said finally, a hint of anger reaching his words. "Why would you go wandering around by yourself at night? You're weak and looking for trouble."

"_You're_ wandering around by yourself at night," she replied, keeping her tone aloof.

"I'm not a weakling, like you."

"Except I'm not a weakling, either," she snapped. "And if I'm so useless and pathetic, why'd you bother saving me, huh?"

"Hn."

With that non-word, he left.

* * *

"Jojo, where have you been?" Adam demanded as soon as she walked into the room they were sharing at the Pokémon Center. She was not surprised to see Glen sitting on the bunk above Adam's, his feet dangling off of the edge.

She shrugged in reply and unsuccessfully attempted climbing up onto the top of the other bunk bed with the egg in her hand. When she looked back to see them staring at her, she sighed and said, "I went for a walk."

"To where?" Adam pressed, looking surprisingly like her dad when he had found out that she and her friends had snuck away to Moomoo Farms for a day instead of going to the Glitter Lighthouse like they'd said.

"To Sinnoh," she said, her sarcasm so vicious that Glen raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Jojo, we were worried!" Adam said angrily; she rolled her eyes and sat down on the lower bed, throwing her bag onto it and placing the egg gently by her side.

Noticing the plural, she glanced at Glen, who nodded in confirmation. "Why would you worry? I was perfectly fine," she sneered, suddenly realizing how heavy the little egg was now that she put it down.

"Goldenrod is a dangerous place! There's thugs and criminals and-" Adam looked around, lowering his voice conspiratorially, "-there's been rumors that Team Rocket members guard the back streets."

Jojo sniffed derisively. "Do you really think I'd be stupid enough to wander around the back streets? Besides, what would Team Rocket be guarding? The run-down apartment buildings?" When Adam didn't respond, she went on. "I just went for a walk. That's it."

"Long walk," Glen murmured, just loud enough to be heard. Jojo's head snapped to his, a frown etched on her face. "Sorry," he said, holding his hands up defensively. "I like to take walks too," he continued when her expression didn't soften. "Especially in the rain."

"I hate rain," Jojo said sourly, reaching into her bag and pulling out her pajamas. "And I'm battling Whitney tomorrow, so I'm going to sleep. Good _night_."

* * *

**A/N; Why do I keep forgetting Jojo has an egg? It's like…an important part of the story, but every time I describe her actions I always write that she put her hands on her hips or something. Then I realize she can't do that without dropping the egg, which would **_**really**_** screw up a lot of plot points.**

**Anyway, I feel like I still haven't done the coordinators justice, but don't worry; everyone's still in Goldenrod, right? Expect more from them next chapter! ;) Speaking of which~**

**Silvia Arrowe belongs to Ziria Nightrose**

**Sory Vinora belongs to Jigglypuff's Pillow**

**Jennifer belongs to iflip4dolphins**

**Glen Murdock belongs to Kyuuketsuki Fang**

**Garfield O'Callaghan belongs to Mistress Circe**

**Ade Konatsu belongs to Shadoe Mayari**

**Shiron Kerlin belongs to DarkFlarePheonix  
**

**Lawrence belongs to Czar Lawrence III  
**

**So we've met the last person in our trio – Glen~! I feel like I haven't even done him justice, either. His personality's a lot of fun, but difficult to write all the same, so I'm not entirely sure I got him down like I have Adam and Jojo. We also see a much more mature side of Adam, and…well, we get pretty much the same Jojo. We have new mystery!dude introduced as well, and I guess Jillian, if you want to count that.**

**Hmm, here's a question for you guys: what do you think Jojo's egg will hatch into?**

…**and if you do know, don't spoil it. :P**

**Thanks for reading, and until next time, **_**au revoir**_**~!**


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